Weekend box-office – 16th to 22nd of May 2015 – Witherspoon chases Avengers in a Hot Pursuit?

Superhero sequel The Avengers: Age of Ultron came out to the second biggest opening weekend of all time at $191 million, bested only by the 2012 original. The film is already just shy of $1 billion at the international box-office but it isn’t without competition this week. Reese Witherspoon is trying to replicate fellow Oscar winner Sandra Bullock’s success with the cop comedy franchise. Bullock’s The Heat was a smash hit with a $40 million opening and $230 million total but last week we reckoned that it would fall flat in third.

US:

1. The Avengers: Age of Ultron – Director: Joss Whedon – $77.7 million
2. Hot Pursuit – Anne Fletcher – $13.9 million
3. The Age of Adaline – Lee Toland Krieger – $5.8 million
4. Fast & Furious 7 – James Wan – $5.4 million
5. Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 – Andy Fickman – $5.3 million

UK:

1. The Avengers: Age of Ultron – Joss Whedon – £3.5 million
2. Spooks: The Greater Good – Bharat Nalluri – £1 million
3. Far From the Madding Crowd – Thomas Vinterberg – £0.8 million
4. Unfriended – Levan Gabriadze – £0.7 million
5. The Age of Adaline – Lee Toland Krieger – £0.6 million

Age of Ultron retains top spot despite a sharp 60% drop while Hot Pursuit has come to a disappointing slow halt. The in UK, spy thriller follow up to the hit TV series Spooks: The Greater Good has reached a fairly mediocre £1 million pounds in second place as The Avengers is still dominating in its third weekend. This week we’ve scored 4/10.

US:

1. Pitch Perfect 2 – Elizabeth Banks
2. Mad Max: Fury Road – George Miller
3. The Avengers: Age of Ultron – Joss Whedon
4. The Age of Adaline – Lee Toland Krieger
5. Hot Pursuit – Anne Fletcher

UK:

1. Mad Max: Fury Road – George Miller
2. Pitch Perfect 2 – Elizabeth Banks
3. The Avengers: Age of Ultron – Joss Whedon
4. A Royal Night Out – Julian Jarrold
5. Spooks: The Greater Good – Bharat Nalluri

Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson and Jeremy Renner in The Avengers: Age of Ultron, this week’s US and UK number one.

Weekend box-office – 9th to 15th of May 2015 – can Hulk smash the competition with Avengers 2?

Marvel’s blockbuster collaboration of franchises Avengers Assemble is the third highest grossing film ever at $1.5 billion and the established the model of a cinematic universe. Since then, Iron Man ($1.2 billion), Thor ($640 million, Captain America ($710 million) and Guardians of the Galaxy ($770 million) have all thrived but haven’t quite replicated the success of Joss Whedon’s superhero masterpiece. Last week, we predicted the film’s sequel (Age of Ultron) number one spot correctly and we’ll see quite how much it can take in its opening weekend.

US:

1. The Avengers: Age of Ultron – Director: Joss Whedon – $191 million
2. Fast & Furious 7 – James Wan – $6.6 million
3. The Age of Adaline – Lee Toland Krieger – $6.2 million
4. Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 – Andy Fickman – $5.9 million
5. Home – Tim Johnson – $3.5 million

UK:

1. The Avengers: Age of Ultron – Joss Whedon – £8.6 million
2. Far From the Madding Crowd – Thomas Vinterberg – £1.5 million
3. Unfriended – Levan Gabriadze – £1.3 million
4. Fast & Furious 7 – James Wan – £1.1 million
5. Home – Tim Johnson – £0.7 million

This week I’ve scored 4/10 while Age of Ultron has scored a higher opening weekend than Furious 7, Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Transformers: Age of Extinction, Man of Steel, Iron Man 3, and The Dark Knight Rises and is the biggest debut since the original’s $207 million haul in 2012 (retaining its all time record). The film will undoubtedly be among the top three of all time very soon. The surprise addition to the UK box office is Thomas Hardy’s Victorian drama Far From the Madding Crowd starring Carey Mulligan which has successfully provided a lucrative alternative to the blockbusters.

US:

1. The Avengers: Age of Ultron – Joss Whedon
2. Before I Wake – Mike Flanagan
3. Hot Pursuit – Anne Fletcher
4. Fast & Furious 7 – James Wan
5. Maggie – Henry Hobson

UK:

1. The Avengers: Age of Ultron – Joss Whedon
2. Spooks: The Greater Good – Bharat Nalluri
3. The Age of Adaline – Lee Toland Krieger
4. Far From the Madding Crowd – Thomas Vinterberg
5. Unfriended – Levan Gabriadze

Scarlett Johansson and Mark Ruffalo in The Avengers: Age of Ultron, this week’s US and UK number one.

Weekend box-office – 2nd to 8th of May 2015 – is it a fourth lap victory for Furious 7?

In just a month of release, the action packed racing sequel Furious 7 has outgrossed all of 2014’s biggest hits (Transformers 4, Guardians of the Galaxy, Maleficent, Godzilla, Big Hero 6 and Interstellar) and on the al time chart has surpassed Harry Potter, Iron Man 3 and Frozen on the all time chart. Last week, we predicted that romantic fantasy drama The Age of Adaline (starring Blake Lively, Ellen Burstyn and Harrison Ford) would fend off Furious 7 from its fourth week atop the US box office. Meanwhile in the UK, Hollywood king Joss Whedon follows up the third highest grossing film of all time (superhero adventure The Avengers) with its sequel Age of Ultron.

US:

1. Fast & Furious 7 – Director: James Wan – $17.8 million
2. Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 – Andy Fickman – $14.8 million
3. The Age of Adaline – Lee Toland Krieger – $13.2 million
4. Home – Tim Johnson – $8 million
5. Unfriended – Levan Gabriadze – $6.2 million

UK:

1. The Avengers: Age of Ultron – Joss Whedon – £18 million
2. Fast & Furious 7 – James Wan – £1.6 million
3. Cinderella – Kenneth Branagh – £0.8 million
4. Home – Tim Johnson – £0.7 million
5. Cavalleria/Pagliacci Royal Opera London – £0.3 million

Furious 7 fourth triumph in a row is another slow moving week for the box office which we hope will be bolstered by the arrival of The Avengers next week. The sequel’s debut in the UK is the biggest opening weekend since Skyfall hit our screens back in 2012 and the film is set to be an incredible phenomenon. This week I’ve scored 5/10

US:

1. The Avengers: Age of Ultron – Joss Whedon
2. Fast & Furious 7 – James Wan
3. Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 – Andy Fickman
4. The Age of Adaline – Lee Toland Krieger
5. Home – Tim Johnson

UK:

1. The Avengers: Age of Ultron – Joss Whedon
2. Fast & Furious 7 – James Wan
3. Far From the Madding Crowd – Thomas Vinterberg
4. Unfriended – Levan Gabriadze
5. Cinderella – Kenneth Branagh

Dwayne Johnson in Fast & Furious 7, this week’s US number one.

Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr, Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johansson and Chris Hemsworth in The Avengers: Age of Ultron, this week’s UK number one.

Weekend box-office – 25th of April to 1st of May 2015 – will Furious 7 win its third lap?

The star studded action sequel Furious 7 has broken the record for the quickest film to surpass the billion dollar mark and is now entering its third weekend box office. The competition this week includes comedy sequel Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 and horror flick Unfriended. Last week, we predicted that Furious 7 would win but let’s find out what’ll really go down.

US:

1. Fast & Furious 7 – Director: James Wan – $29.2 million
2. Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 – Andy Fickman – $23.8 million
3. Unfriended – Levan Gabriadze – $15.8 million
4. Home – Tim Johnson – $10.6 million
5. The Longest Ride – George Tillman Jr – $7 million

UK:

1. Fast & Furious 7 – James Wan – £3 million
2. Cinderella – Kenneth Branagh – £1.1 million
3. Home – Tim Johnson – £0.9 million
4. Child 44 – Daniel Espinosa – £0.5 million
5. Woman in Gold – Simon Curtis – £0.4 million

Fast & Furious’ reign continues while the week’s biggest loser is Child 44, a Soviet-set thriller starring Tom Hardy and Gary Oldman. It was one of the year’s most anticipated and yet it’s already been deemed a commercial and critical bomb. This week we’ve scored 4/10. Here’s next week’s predictions as what may be the year’s biggest financial hits

US:

1. The Age of Adaline – Lee Toland Krieger
2. Fast & Furious 7 – James Wan
3. The Water Diviner – Russell Crowe
4. Paul Blart: Mall Cop – Andy Fickman
5. Unfriended – Levan Gabriadze

UK:

1. The Avengers: Age of Ultron – Joss Whedon
2. Fast & Furious 7 – James Wan
3. Cinderella – Kenneth Branagh
4. Home – Tim Johnson
5. Child 44 – Daniel Espinosa

Ludacris, Paul Walker, Tyrese Gibson and Vin Diesel in Fast & Furious 7, this week’s US and UK number one.