The** Age Of Ultron** is officially over at the US box office. At least, the age of the Avengers sequel dominating the charts is, as the superheroes have fallen not to a horde of post-apocalyptic barbarians and a driven warrior woman, but to a pack of a capella college stars with mash-ups galore. Which is the roundabout way of saying that Pitch Perfect 2 stormed American cinemas this weekend, earning the top spot with a huge $70.3 million, according to studio estimates.
To put that into perspective, the sequel has made more in one weekend than the entire domestic run of the first film, which is a great achievement for director Elizabeth Banks and the team. It should easily surpass the original, which was more of a slow-burning sleeper hit that took off over time. The result meant that the sequel – now the most successful movie musical opening of all time – roared past Mad Max: Fury Road, which itself still did decent business. George Miller’s return trip to a world he last visited in 1985 made $44.4 million in the US, which means it has further to go given the two films’ comparative budgets, but is a good start. Speaking internationally, the movies appear to be roughly neck and neck, with Pitch Perfect 2 taking $108.4 million to Max’s $109.4 million.
The Avengers were forced into third place, but still added $38.3 million to Tony Stark – or rather, Disney/Marvel’s – bank accounts, with the film now sitting at more than $1.14 billion globally. Buddy comedy Hot Pursuit was pushed to a distant fourth with $5.7 million, while Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 clung to fifth place and $3.6 million.
Almost tied for that was Fast & Furious 7, which also scored $3.6 million but fell to sixth place ahead of The Age Of Adaline in seventh with $3.2 million. DreamWorks Animation’s Home was eighth with $2.7 million, while Ex Machina added $2.1 million to its receipts for a $19.5 million US total to date. And finally, Far From The Madding Crowd expanded its release and leapt from 15th place to tenth with $1.3 million.
To see a group of musical women take down an entire convoy of irradiated marauders in the full chart listing, head to Box Office Mojo.