1. Pitch Perfect 2 (review here)- $70.3M
This is a case where the audience favorite vastly outshines the critical darling. Which do you think the studios would prefer, eh? Pitch Perfect 2 may be getting choked up on some of the bad reviews but a $70M opening weekend is definitely worth singing about. The a capella sequel easily beat out Mad Max: Fury Road (which didn't so badly either) and set a new record for musicals, besting High School Musical's $42M in 2008. The first film, which opened wide in 2012 with $14M, became a hit largely due to word of mouth and it will be interesting to see if this one has the same legs (that's not a pun about the comely stars, either...okay maybe it is). At this rate it will easily surpass the $115M haul of its predecessor and lay a solid foundation for the already-developing Pitch Perfect 3.
2. Mad Max: Fury Road (review here)- $44.4M
It was a lovely day, er, weekend, for George Miller's post-apocalyptic Mad Max: Fury Road, earning $44M. That's a great start for the $150M film, and I would say the first legit showing of Tom Hardy's box office prowess. No, The Dark Knight Rises doesn't count. The reason I say that is it has been thirty years (!!!) since the last Mad Max film, so most of the younger people who flooded into theaters likely have little connection to the original movies. They see Tom Hardy, they see Charlize Theron, and they probably saw some of the wildest praise (all richly deserved) for any film of their lives. This was a test of Hardy as a box office draw and he won, hands down. That the top two films this week boast a strong feminist component can't be overlooked, either, and hopefully Hollywood is taking notice.
3. Avengers: Age of Ultron- $38.8M/$372M
With another $38.8M, not bad for a third week draw, Avengers: Age of Ultron has become the top-grossing film of the year domestically.
4. Hot Pursuit- $5.7M/$23.5M
5. Furious 7- $3.64M/$343.7M
6. Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2- $3.6M/$62.9M
7. The Age of Adaline- $3.2M/$37M
8. Home- $2.7M/$165.6M
9. Ex Machina- $2.1M/$19.5M
10. Far from the Madding Crowd- $1.3M/$2.6M
Yeah, I'm admittedly ecstatic that Thomas Vinterberg's Far from the Madding Crowd has cracked the top 10 in its third week of very limited release. The Carey Mulligan-led drama also stars my boy Matthias Schoenaerts, and is frankly one of the better period pieces in a long time, which explains why so many are seeking it out. If it expands further expect even better results and a big win for Fox Searchlight.
