As expected, Avengers: Age Of Ultron used its combined superhero might and generous hype to hammer the competition, arriving top of the US box office after a successful launch overseas. Yet despite lots of chatter about potential record-breaking numbers, the film opened a little lower than the original Avengers, kicking off with a still-impressive $187.6 million.
Although it couldn’t quite match the $207.4 million start for the parent film, Ultron still showed that Earth’s Mightiest Heroes have what it takes to dominate the charts. And with more than $627 million globally after 12 days of release outside the States, the film should cross a billion in a relatively short time, especially with a few big markets such as China yet to see the movie.
The Avengers’ arrival meant no wide-release competition and slim pickings for others in the chart. The Age Of Adaline managed to climb one place, adding $6.2 million in second, while Fast & Furious 7, its own momentum slightly impacted by the Marvel movie, added $6.1 million for a current US total of $190 million and more than $1.42 billion worldwide.
**Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 **suffered in comparison, sliding to fourth with $5.5 million. DreamWorks Animation’s ‘toon Home fell to fifth with $3.3 million.
It was a very good weekend for Disney between its superhero triumph and an unexpected bounce back from Cinderella. The fantasy had left the top ten, but sprang back into sixth place with $2.3 million in what could be seen as a fairy-tale story of box office success.** Ex Machina** added screens but slipped one place to seventh with $2.23 million. Horror pic Unfriended dropped to eighth and $1.9 million, while The Longest Ride was down to ninth with $1.7 million. **Woman In Gold **stayed in place at tenth, earning $1.6 million.
To see Iron Man and the rest take on the entire chart and win in the full listings, head to Box Office Mojo.