Marvel: ‘Avengers: Age Of Ultron’ Earns Second Biggest Opening Of All Time, $187.7 Million
Marvel’s long anticipated sequel, Avengers: Age of Ultron, raked in a staggering $187.7 million box office haul over the weekend in the second biggest opening weekend ever, just behind the film’s original, The Avengers,according to Variety.
Expectations were high following Age of Ultron’s record breaking Hong Kong opening last weekend, where the film topped all local Hong Kong box office receipts, hauling in $201.2 million in just 44 territories. The opening, which came on the same weekend as The Avengers opened in 2012, during which it broke records with the top grossing domestic opening weekend ever earning $207.4 million, came on the same weekend as the hotly anticipated Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight, which viewers had to cough up $99 to watch.
With Avengers: Age of Ultron having already amassed over $627 million globally in only 12 days of release, according to the Hollywood Reporter‘s Pamela McClintock, many thought that Age of Ultron had the potential to overtake the The Avengers with the top opening weekend ever. BoxOffice.com vice president and chief analyst Phil Contrino reminds that the second biggest opening of all time, especially against such strong competition as the boxing match and NBA playoffs, is certainly still a massive success worth celebration.
“It would be a shame to see headlines saying Avengers 2 fails by not setting opening weekend records. This is still a massive debut, but there’s something about the movie industry where people feel every weekend should set a new record.”
Dave Hollis, Disney’s head of distribution, lauded the opening while intimating that those distracted by these ancillary events will likely catch up and contribute to a sustained box office run, according to the L.A. Times‘ Saba Hamedy.
“Between the boxing match, NHL and NBA playoffs, the Kentucky Derby, looks like folks were distracted, but the second-biggest opening in history of movie business is something to be proud of and also just the beginning of what we expect to be a spectacular run.”
Avengers: Age of Ultron is already well on its way to grossing over $1 billion globally, and should have no issue crossing that mark when the film opens countrywide in China on May 12.
Avengers: Age of Ultron is the second in a throng of eagerly awaited tentpole blockbusters scheduled for release by comic book-turned-movie giant, Marvel. Between now and 2019, Marvel is set to see the release of Captain America: Civil War in 2016, as well as the next two films in The Avengers series, Avengers: Infinity War – Part I in 2018 and Avengers: Infinity War – Part II in 2019. Also slated for release by Marvel in the next three years are Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy 2, Thor: Ragnarok, Black Panther, Captain Marvel, and Inhumans.
With this weekend’s huge box office opening, Marvel now lays claim to the top three box office openings of all time, with The Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron claiming the top two spots and with Iron Man 3 in third, having grossed over $174 million in 2013.
