Joss Whedon‘s Avengers: Age of Ultron, which bowed to $187.7 million from 4,276 theaters in North America, is the No. 2 opening of all time behind The Avengers.
Overseas, where the summer’s first tentpole began opening last weekend, Age of Ultronearned another $168 million from 88 territories for a foreign total of $439 million and early worldwide haul of $627 million.
In only 12 days, it has surpassed the lifetime global earnings Captain America ($371 million), Thor ($449 million), Iron Man ($583 million) and Iron Man 2 ($622 million).
As the weekend progressed, Saturay night’s Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao fight had damaging effects on Ultron. The event, costing $89.9-$99.9, is expected to have generated hundreds of millions in revenue. Many thousands watched the fight on pirate sites.
Younger Male Viewers
Males made up 59 percent of Ultron‘s audience, while nearly 60 percent of ticket buyers were 25 and over. Families represented 22 percent and teens, 12 percent.
Marvel Studios now boasts the top three opening weekends of all time domestically, thanks to the two Avengers entries and Iron Man 3, which debuted to $174.1 million in May 2013. Age of Ultron pushes Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2 ($169.2 million) to No. 4.
On Friday, Age of Ultron grossed a massive $84.5 milion domestically, the biggest opening day for a superhero film and the second biggest of all time after the final Harry Potter film ($91.7 million).
In 2012, Avengers pulled in $80.8 million on its first Friday. However, Age of Ultron lagged behind Avengers on Saturday ($57.2 million versus $69.6 million).
Avengers: Age of Ultron, costing $250 million to make, returns Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, ChrisHemsworth as Thor, Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk, Chris Evans as Captain America and Scarlett Johansson as the Black Widow. The ensemble cast also includes Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadleand Paul Bettany. This time, the superheroes and their allies must work together to stop Ultron (James Spader), who intends to destroy the world.
Universal’s Furious 7 finished Sunday with a global gross of $1.429 billion, passing up Deathly Hallows ($1.341 billion) became the No. 4 top-grossing title of all time at the worldwide box office behind Avengers, Titanic ($2.2 billion) and Avatar ($2.8 billion).
Furious 7 followed with $6.1 million, while Sony’s Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 placed No 4 with $5.5 million for a domestic total of $51.2 million.
A24 Films’ indie hit Ex Machina crossed $10 million in North America, grossing $2.2 million from 1,279 theaters for a total of $10.9 million. The sci-fi film placed No. 7.
