Weekend box-office – 23rd of May to 5th of June 2015 – will Tomorrowland enhance the future?

We’ve have two weeks of box-office to cover.

Firstly, in the biggest movie showdown since Interstellar and Big Hero 6 went head to head last November, post-apocalypric action reboot Mad Max: Fury Road – starring Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises) and Charlize Theron (Prometheus) – rivals musical comedy sequel Pitch Perfect 2 – starring Anna Kendrick (Into the Woods) and Rebel Wilson (Night at the Museum 3). This two horse race culminates in a major week for the box-office and last week we predicted a pitch perfect opening for the Barden Bellas.

Week 1:

US:

1. Pitch Perfect 2 – Director: Elizabeth Banks – $69.2 million
2. Mad Max: Fury Road – George Miller – $45.4 million
3. The Avengers: Age of Ultron – Joss Whedon – $38.9 million
4. Hot Pursuit – Anne Fletcher – $5.7 million
5. Fast & Furious 7 – James Wan – $3.6 million

UK:

1. Pitch Perfect 2 – Elizabeth Banks – £5 million
2. Mad Max: Fury Road – George Miller – £4.5 million
3. The Avengers: Age of Ultron – Joss Whedon – £1.7 million
4. Spooks: The Greater Good – Bharat Nalluri – £0.5 million
5. Far From the Madding Crowd – Thomas Vinterberg – £0,4 million

Week 2:

In the next week, Brad Bird (the mind behind the hits The Iron Giant, The Incredible and Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol) is launching his sci-fi spectacle Tomorrowland. At $190 million in costs, it might turn out to be another of Disney’s high budget/high profile live action disappointments John Carter and The Lone Ranger, despite the fact that talented directors Andrew Stanton (WALL-E) and Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean) were at the helm.

US:

1. Tomorrowland: A World Beyond – Brad Bird – $33 million
2. Pitch Perfect 2 – Elizabeth Banks – $30.8 million
3. Mad Max: Fury Road – George Miller – $24.6 million
4. Poltergeist – Gil Kenan – $22.6 million
5. The Avengers: Age of Ultron – Joss Whedon – $21. 7 million

UK:

1. Pitch Perfect 2 – Elizabeth Banks – £2.7 million
2. Mad Max: Fury Road – George Miller – £2.6 million
3. Tomorrowland: A World Beyond – Brad Bird – £1.5 million
4. Poltergeist – Gil Kenan – £1.5 million
5. The Avengers: Age of Ultron – Joss Whedon – £1.1 million

Anna Kendrick in Pitch Perfect 2, last week’s US and UK number one and this week’s UK number one.

Britt Robertson in Tomorrowland, this week’s US 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.