The Avengers: Age of Ultron scored the second biggest second-week haul of all time at the US box office this weekend with another $77.1m (£50m) in receipts.

Joss Whedon’s superhero sequel now boasts $875.3m worldwide and passed the $300m mark in North America, where its total stands at $312m going into a third weekend. With the film due to open in China, the world’s second-largest box office, on 12 May, it could even pass the $1bn mark by this time next week. The film also looks on course to surpass predecessor The Avengers, from 2012, which is the third biggest movie of all time globally with $1.518bn.

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Reese Witherspoon/Sofía Vergara buddy comedy Hot Pursuit opened in second place with a disappointing $13.3m following scathing reviews. Anne Fletcher’s film centres on a police officer (Witherspoon) assigned to take care of a drug dealer’s wife (Vergara) who is due to testify with her husband at the trial of a powerful drug lord.

The Blake Lively romantic fantasy The Age of Adaline slipped from second to third with another $5.6m for a three-week total of $31.5m. The top five was rounded out by Fast and Furious 7, with another $5.2m in its sixth week for a total of $338.4m, and Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, with another $5.1m for a four-week total of $58m.

There were no other new movies in the top 10, as studios continued to avoid taking on The Avengers. However, there was a desperate return of $469,185 for comedy The D Train, starring Jack Black and James Marsden. The film sees Black’s alumni committee chair setting out to convince the coolest guy from high school (Marsden) to attend a 20th anniversary reunion in the hope that his presence will convince others to make the trip.

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Feted Alex Garland science fiction tale Ex Machina continues to perform well in North America, having moved up to No 6 on this week’s chart with another $3.4m for a five-week total of $15.7m

US box office chart 8-10 May