To say Avengers: Age of Ultron was a big hit is an understatement. Not only is the Marvel movie raking in sales but it's also doing so in record time.
At its second weekend, The Avengers earned $77.2 million domestically, bringing total earnings to $312.9 million in just 10 days. This made the movie the second fastest film to reach over $300 million at the box office in the United Stayings, tying at the same spot with The Dark Knight.
Ticket sales are not letting up so the sequel is well on its way to hitting the $1-billion mark. Still, the movie has nothing on the kind of performance 2012's The Avengers put on, which earned $103.1 million on its second week and hit the $300-million mark within just nine days before going on to earn $373 million for the same cycle.
This year's Avengers sees Chris Evans, Robert Downey, Jr., Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson and Jeremy Renner reprising their roles from the first movie to fight to save the earth from being destroyed by Ultron, a villainous robot. Of course, the superheroes prevailed, but not just in defeating evil robots.
The Avengers is having such a good run in cinemas that Hot Pursuit, a comedy film starring Sofia Vergara and Reese Witherspoon, took second spot with just $13.3 million. This was below estimates Warner Bros had initially set for the movie but this still puts Hot Pursuit in the same league as The Avengers as being the only two movies now showing to make more than $10 million in ticket sales.
The Marvel sequel was indeed a big movie, what with superheroes banding together, but this was not the only reason why Hot Pursuit was not able to inch closer than it did. Critics were particularly hard on the buddy movie, with Rotten Tomatoes giving it score of a mere 6 percent. One critic even went on to say that it was "a complete and total comic misfire that is almost painful to watch."
The Age of Madeline, a fantasy drama starring Blake Lively, placed third at the box office with $5.6 million while Furious 7 took the fourth spot with $5.2 million. Rounding up the top five for the weekend is Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, which made just under $5.2 million.
This roster should see a shake-up once Mad Max: Fury Road starts showing. The movie opens May 13.
