The winner

Swatting off any challenge in the action-blockbuster stakes from the new Mad Max this week and coasting to a $1.15bn running total, Avengers: Age of Ultron is now the eighth highest-grossing film of all time. Its $154.1m six-day Chinese debut was impressive – the second-highest ever in the territory and evidence of how the Marvel universe is now establishing itself in the farthest corners of the real one. But it’s short of the truly ridiculous pace, $250.5m in eight days, set by Furious 7 in April. Both films are in the running for the No 3 spot, currently held by the first Avengers, on the all-time worldwide chart: Furious 7, its takings slowing to a crawl now, is about $20m short; Ultron about $380m. Ultron looks, right now, to be slightly off Furious 7’s blistering overseas pace, and also unlikely to match the $623.7m US haul that was the foundation of the first Avengers’ massive strike.

It’s still doing very capably on both counts: ahead of Avengers 1 in most emerging markets, which should balance out the reduced US pot – now $372m, the year’s highest domestic figure so far. What it’s lacking is that hot twitch of cultural excitement that would set it on the way to break records absolutely everywhere; it’s notable that the UK box office is also running shy of the first film’s at the same point ($65.9m to the first’s $71.2m). But there’s still a lot to play for. If I was betting, then I’d put money on Furious 7 finishing a fraction above Avengers 1, and Ultron a fraction below.



Mad world

After his 30-year absence, there was no guarantee audiences would be keen on another parched excursion in the company of Max Rockatansky. Very much a low-budget, midnight-movie kind of proposition for the first two Mad Maxes, building up to something of Hollywood stature for the third, there’s no mistaking the pressure this time. A $150m budget plus a rumoured $100m in marketing putting Fury Road – releasing in 69 territories – puts Fury Road in the indisputable worldwide blockbuster ballpark.



A $45.4m US opening in that context looks like a disappointment, but given that the film is R-rated and, with Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron headlining, contains no A-list stars, it’s a qualified success (the 24th best R-rated debut). It’s the best Mad Max debut – and puts Fury Road in a strong position to become the top-grossing film of the series, even adjusted for inflation (which would lift Beyond Thunderdome’s $36.2m to $82.8m). Given the almost unanimously worshipful reviews, studio Warner Bros will be hoping that George Miller’s film has the same kind of durability at the box-office as its protagonist does in the outback.



Even if that comes to pass, the international figures are concerning – $64m from 68 markets – set against meaty costs. That doesn’t say must-see blockbuster to me; more cult breakout that you pray doesn’t have a three-figure-budget. Fury Road’s $7m UK figure was beaten into second place by Pitch Perfect 2, but still enough to make it top territory; $6.6m was enough for No 1 in South Korea and $6.1m for France; but $4.9m in Australia has to be counted as a stumble, given the franchise’s uniquely screwy antipodean identity.



Compared to other adult-certified films that have performed better (Fifty Shades of Grey opened at $20.8m in the UK in February), Fury Road feels like it’s labouring to get much beyond the geek quorum that remembers and reveres the original films. Hopefully, the film’s superior quality will change that over the coming weeks.



But it’s a problem for now. It feels like Fury Road is suffering because it’s up against Pitch Perfect 2 in many countries, whose easy mainstream hooks are picking up the female audience more readily (see below) than the abstract case for Miller’s film as an anti-patriarchal work that emerged when the reviews embargo was lifted on 11 May. There was no sense in the long-term marketing campaign that this could be a selling point for the film – and a 70% male US audience on opening weekend is the result.

Bravura trailers aside, the publicity was rather diffuse, with Charlize Theron’s shaven-headed Furiosa mystifyingly prominent on posters at the expense of Tom Hardy, the ostensible star of the show. There was also an impersonal poster campaign that relied on bland road-warrior imagery that would only resonate with Mad Max aficionados, and a “mastermind” billing for dirctor George Miller that, again, preaches largely to the converted.

It feels as if there wasn’t a clear sense of who to aim Fury Road at beyond the cult-movie crowd, or that someone lacked the conviction to sell it to women because of the fear of losing the male audience. Now, if the film is to meet its costs, the studio is partly reliant on the last people they usually ask to sell stuff for them: the critics.

Sweet harmony

Pitch Perfect 2 is going to be big. The US opening for Universal’s a cappella comedy sequel – $69.2m, easily a record for a musical – confirms that the franchise is firmly bedded in when, back in 2012, it was a quirky proposition feeding off the likes of Glee and given a limited, slow-building release. That could put it in line for $150-200m in the US alone. It’s a calculated retread, with university singing outfit the Barden Bellas pushed on to the international a cappella scene for no other reason than that’s where the bigger box office lies.

It’s also spectacularly outperforming the first film in the 30 markets where it’s out so far. After an upper-register No 1 in Australia last week, co-star Rebel Wilson’s home turf, it’s going great guns in the UK (PP1: $1.5m; PP2: $7.7m) and Germany (PP1: $1.9m; PP2: $4.1m), who were the next hottest for the original. The Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan also posted No 1s, suggesting that Pitch Perfect is breaking new ground, perhaps already tilled by the greater visibility of female-led studio fare since Bridesmaids, and the fact that Pitch Perfect shares the aspirational dramatic set-up of TV talent shows that are syndicated worldwide.

It’ll surely surpass the original’s $50.3m overseas take several times over, which could add up to $300m+ overall; enough to have it ululating alongside the likes of Into the Woods ($212m), Chicago ($306m) and Les Misérables ($441m). A third round seems inevitable, and the franchise, with its transportable tight unit of singers and college setting, surely has potential to bud off into localised versions, too.



The rest of the world

Four offerings from outside the Hollywood system: Korean thriller Chronicles of Evil, left eating Mad Max’s dirt in second place in that country but still good for sixth place globally, about a police officer who covers up the murder of a taxi driver. Two British entrants – Ex Machina and Far From the Madding Crowd – continued modest international runs in eight and 13 territories respectively. Now at $26.5m and 11th place on the worldwide rankings, Alex Garland’s $16.4m sci-fi thriller must be hitting black some time soon; one place below and currently on $10.6m, it looks more dicey for Madding Crowd, for which no budget is available but which certainly looks glossy enough. But it’s got a lengthy rollout to come, including major territories in the shape of France (3 June), Australia (25 June), Brazil (25 June) and Russia (2 July). Finally, Ostwind 2 – which looks to have a sort of German Black Beauty thing going on – took 13th place with a $2m take.



The future

Mad Max: Fury Road and Pitch Perfect 2 dribble out in a few more spots. But if Marvel’s owner Disney is fretting about the next big boy with a real chance of cramping Age of Ultron’s style, it can console itself with the fact that it is a Disney film, too. Pixar alumnus Brad Bird brings his $190m sci-fi fantasia Tomorrowland – the latest in that beloved oeuvre based on theme-park rides – to 40 territories, including the US and the UK. In what seems like an emerging pattern lately, it’ll open in China belatedly mid-week. Anything to do with government-stipulated release dates trying to depress Hollywood grosses? (If so, it’s not working if Furious 7 and Ultron are anything to go by.) Fox’s reboot of the Poltergeist property created in 1982 with Tobe Hooper as director and Steven Spielberg producing also hits 30 markets, chief among them the States, UK, Australia and Brazil, as well as a big swathe of the Middle East. The new one comes courtesy of Monster House director Gil Kenan and producers Sam Raimi and Roy Lee, the man who strip-mined J-horror for Hollywood remakes. Light on star names – just Sam Rockwell – it has the original’s impressive $121m haul ($296m adjusted) to beat.



Top 10 global box office, 15-17 May

1. Avengers: Age of Ultron, $227.4m from 92 territories. $1.15bn cumulative – 67% international; 33% US

2. (New) Mad Max: Fury Road, $109.4m from 69 territories – 58.4% int; 41.6% US

3. Pitch Perfect 2, $96.3m from 30 territories. $107.5m cum – 35.6% int; 64.4% US

4. Furious 7, $10.2m from 67 territories. $1.49bn cum – 76.9% int; 23.1% US

5. Home, $7.2m from 24 territories. $351.1m cum – 52.8% int; 47.2% US

6. (New) Chronicles of Evil, $6.3m from 1 territory – 100% int

7. Hot Pursuit, $5.8m from 1 territory. $23.5m cum – 100% US

8. Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, $5.3m from 53 territories. $94.4m cum – 33.3% int; 66.7% US

9. The Age of Adaline, $4.7m from 23 territories. $48.1m cum – 22.9% int; 87.1% US

10. Cinderella, $3.9m from 2 territories. $521m cum – 62.1% int; 37.9% US



• Thanks to Rentrak. Some of this week’s figures are based on estimates; all historical figures unadjusted, unless otherwise stated.

