Final update, Monday, 2:50 PM: In its second weekend, Disney/Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron hauled in another $77.7M, which ended up being a 59% drop in its second frame. That is actually a strong hold considering that 15% of its first weekend gross came from the action hero cluster flick’s $27.5M Thursday preview. Opening in the No. 2 spot was Warner Bros.’ female buddy comedy Hot Pursuit turned in a little better Sunday than expected with weekend final of $13.9M.
Next weekend will be action-packed as Mad Max: Fury Road with Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron revs into theaters competing head to head with Pitch Perfect2 which is getting a significant amount of interest from the young female demo. Actually, right now, the audience make-up is quite similar, but the girls just may give Max a lesson in how opening weekend is done.
Here are the final grosses for this weekend’s Top 20:
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1). Avengers: Age of Ultron (DIS), 4,276 theaters (0) / 3-day cume: $77.7M (-59%) / Per screen average: $18,182 / Total cume: $313.4M/ Wk 2
2). Hot Pursuit (WB/MGM-New Line), 3,003 theaters / 3-day cume: $13.9M / Per screen: $4,643 / Wk 1
3). The Age of Adaline (LGF), 3,070 theaters (+79) / 3-day cume: $5.8M / Per screen: $1,896 / Total cume: $31.7M/ Wk 3
4). Furious 7 (UNI), 3,004 theaters (-301) / 3-day cume: $5.4M / Per screen: $1,800 / Total cume: $338.5M/ Wk 6
5). Paul Blart Mall Cop 2 (SONY), 3,201 theaters (-347) / 3-day cume: $5.3M / Per screen: $1,658 / Total cume: $58.19M / Wk 4
6). Ex Machina (A24), 2,004 theaters (+725) / 3-day cume: $3.5M / Per screen: $1,752 / Total cume: $15.76M / Wk 5
7). Home (FOX/DW), 2,495 theaters (-357) / 3-day cume: $3M / Per screen: $1,230 / Total cume: $162.1M / Wk 7
8). Woman in Gold (TWC), 1,080 theaters (-46) / 3-day cume: $1.7M / Per screen: $1,611 / Total cume: $27M / Wk 6
9). Cinderella (DIS), 1,034 theaters (-377) / 3-day cume: $1.68M / Per screen: $1,626 / Total cume: $196.2M / Wk 9
10). Unfriended (UNI), 1,701 theaters (-520) / 3-day cume: $1.4M / Per screen: $855 / Total cume: $30.9M / Wk 4
11). The Longest Ride (WB), 1,464 theaters (-651) / 3-day cume: $1.3M / Per screen: $927 / Total cume: $35.2M / Wk 5
12). Monkey Kingdom (DIS), 1,431 theaters (-301) / 3-day cume: $1.2M / Per screen: $875 / Total cume: $14.3M / Wk 4
13). Get Hard (WB), 955 theaters (-510) / 3-day cume: $1M / Per screen: $1,107 / Total cume: $87.8M / Wk 7
14). Piku (NR), 118 theaters / 3-day cume: $938K / Per screen: $8,025 / Wk 1
15). Far From the Madding Crowd (FSL), 99 theaters (+89) / 3-day cume: $776K (+371%)/ Per screen: $7,842 / Total cume: $1M / Wk 2
16). The Divergent Series: Insurgent (LGF), 843 theaters (-448) / 3-day cume: $775K / Per screen: $920 / Total cume: $127.6M / Wk 8
17). Little Boy (OPRD), 775 theaters (-270) / 3-day cume: $691K / Per screen: $892 / Total cume: $5.3M / Wk 3
18). The Water Diviner (WB), 385 theaters (0) / 3-day cume: $551K / Per screen: $1,432 / Total cume: $3.2M / Wk 3
19). The D Train (IFC), 1,009 theaters / 3-day cume: $447K / Per screen: $444 / Wk 1
20). While We’re Young (A24), 258 theaters (-116) / 3-day cume: $299K / Per screen: $1,161 / Total cume: $6.9M / Wk 7
Previously: Sunday Update After 7:48 AM Post: Avengers: Age of Ultron posted the second best second weekend (that’s a mouthful, but it’s true) with $77.2M, only to be outflanked by its former self, Avengers which took in $103.1M during its second sesh. Ultron‘s second weekend translates into a 60% drop, which is typical for big openers. Total cume for the Disney/Marvel sequel stands at $312.86M. Ultron broke the $300M threshold in 10 days, tying The Dark Knight‘s pace to that mark. The Avengers, which holds the title as the fastest to clear $300M, did it in nine days. China opens Tuesday and the expectation is that Ultron is gonna hit $1B worldwide later this week. The studio’s target, of course, is to have the sequel hit the same numbers as the first pic, which grossed $1.5B worldwide.
“We are playing to every audience in every market to every segment,” says Disney distrib chief Dave Hollis about the drill-down stats of Ultron. The Marvel film isn’t just a big city pic or one that’s confined to one region of the U.S. in terms of its performance, but is playing from metro areas to small towns. Stateside, Imax made $6.4M or 8% of the weekend B.O bringing its 10-day cume to $29M. Overall, 3D hasn’t been as big with Ultron as it was with the first Avengers. 3D repped 44% of Ultron‘s opening weekend receipts versus 52% for Avengers (blame higher ticket prices).
Avengers: Age of Ultron per studio estimates saw a huge 59% spike on Saturday, which was expected since the superheroes didn’t have to compete against last weekend’s big boxing match on PPV. Between Friday and Saturday, Ultron moved from $21.34M to an estimated $33.86M at 4,276 theaters.
Warner Bros./MGM/New Line’s Hot Pursuit improved a bit with a revised FSS $13.3M per the studio at 3,003 versus the industry projected $12.5M. The studio was hoping for mid-to-high teens heading into the weekend. Some upsides with the Reese Witherspoon-Sofia Vergara comedy to counter that yoke of a C+ CinemaScore: Women turned up at 62%, Saturday’s biz of $4.9M was up 17% from Friday, the pic’s performance was strong in the South (no surprise there, given Witherspoon’s roots), and young women under 18 and between 18-24 gave the film an A and an A- respectively. However, it’s doubtful that this crowd will show up in weeks to come as Witherspoon’s canon of late has pulled in an older demo, and this time it was really old: 46% of those shelling out for Hot Pursuit were over 50. Mother’s Day business is only expected to be off 15%. Final verdict: despite Hot Pursuit‘s lackluster opening, Witherspoon isn’t out of touch with her audience in regards to her star power per analysts. This was a case of the elements simply not working, specifically, as many reviews have pointed out: People just didn’t think the film was funny.
The weekend’s second wide release, a last minute expansion, was IFC’s Jack Black comedy The D Train which played at 1,009 engagements making $469K for a PTA of $465. In recent years, with the exception of Boyhood (which played at 771 venues at its widest), IFC typically doesn’t go wide with its pics, generally opting for a combo of limited theatrical with same-day VOD. Sources informed me that the marketing campaign for D Train wasn’t like the national ones which RADiUS and A24 respectively mounted for spring indie wonders It Follows and Ex Machina. That said, $469K is a lackluster wide launch for a 1,000+ playdate pic, especially for a film that was acquired for $3M at Sundance. By comparison, Black’s summer 2012 indie sleeper Bernie at 95 engagements (in week 4) made $491K. During Memorial Day weekend at 194 playdates, Bernie hit $1.1M over four days (the pic ended its run with $9.2M). Millennium acquired Bernie out of the Los Angeles Film Festival for $2M. Leave it to VOD to save The D Train.
Now for a round of weekend high fives: Lionsgate/Lakeshore-SKE’s Age of Adaline is looking pretty in her third weekend with a 10% dip and a running domestic cume of $31.5M that has surpassed the pic’s production budget. Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 also held well with a 12% slip in its fourth weekend. A24’s Ex Machina gave a come hither to crowds with a 2,000+ expansion, and saw a 52% spike in its fifth sesh for $15.7M total cume. Weinstein Co.’s Woman in Gold is also lookin’ fine with a 3% uptick in its sixth frame with a total running cume of $26.98M. Even more stunning: Woman actually did this on 46 fewer screens. Fox Searchlight’s Far From the Madding Crowd is expected to hit $1M on its 10th day at 99 theaters.
The top films per studio estimates for the weekend of May 8-10, 2015:
1). Avengers: Age of Ultron (DIS), 4,276 theaters (0) / $21.3 Fri. /$33.86 (+59%)/$22M (-35%)/ 3-day cume: $77.2M (-60%) /Total cume: $312.85M/ Wk 2
2). Hot Pursuit (WB/MGM-New Line), 3,003 theaters / $4.2M* Fri. /$4.9M (+17%)/$4.185M Sun (-15%)/ 3-day cume: $13.3M / Wk 1
*includes $450K Thursday previews
3). The Age of Adaline (LGF), 3,070 theaters (+79)/ $1.53M Fri. /$2.18 (+42%) Sat/$1.89M (-13%) Sun/ 3-day cume: $5.6M (-10%) / Total cume: $31.5M/ Wk 3
4). Furious 7 (UNI), 3,004 theaters (-301) / $1.4M Fri. /$2.3M (-10%)/$1.5M Sun (+63%)/ 3-day cume: $5.27M (-21%) / Total cume: $338.4M/ Wk 6
5). Paul Blart Mall Cop 2 (SONY), 3,201 theaters (-347)/ $1.24M Fri./$2.235M (+80% Sat/$1.72M (-23%) Sun/$ 3-day cume: $5.19M (-12%)/ Total cume: $58.1M / Wk 4
6). Ex Machina (A24), 2,004 theaters (+725) / $966K Fri. /$1.5M (+58%) Sat/$1M Sun (-33%)/ 3-day cume: $3.469M (+52%)/ Total cume: $15.7M / Wk 5
7). Home (FOX/DW), 2,495 theaters (-357) / $615K Fri./ $1.3M Sat. (+114%)/$1M Sun (-19%)/3-day cume: $3M (-14%)/ Total cume: $162.1M / Wk 7
8). Woman in Gold (TWC), 1,080 theaters (-46) / $374K Fri. /$710K (+90%) Sat/$568K (-20%) Sun/ 3-day cume: $1.65M (+3%) / Total cume: $26.98M / Wk 6
9). Cinderella (DIS), 1,034 theaters (-377) / $440K Fri. /$725K (+65%) Sat/$409K (-44%) Sun/3-day cume: $1.57M (-43%) / Total cume: $196.2M / Wk 9
10). Unfriended (UNI), 1,701 theaters (-520) / $451K Fri./$638K (+42%) Sat./$311K Sun. (-52%)/ 3-day cume: $1.4M (-36%) / Total cume: $30.9M / Wk 4
Notables:
Far From the Madding Crowd (FSL), 99 theaters (+89) / $191K Fri. /$330K Sat. (+73%)/$240K Sun. (-27%)/ 3-day cume: $761K (+361%) / Total cume: $1M/Wk 2
Piku (YRF), 118 theaters / $212K Fri. / 3-day cume: $824K /Wk 1
The Water Diviner (WB), 385 theaters (0) / $146K Fri./ 3-day cume: $550K (-25%) / Total cume: $3.2M/Wk 3
The D Train (IFC), 1,009 theaters / $160K Fri. / 3-day cume: $469K /Wk 1
Noble (ASP), 150 theaters / $104K Fri. / 3-day cume: $243K /Wk 1
5 Flights Up (FOCW), 87 theaters / $73K Fri. / 3-day cume: $234K /Wk 1
Maggie (RSA), 79 theaters / $45K Fri. / 3-day cume: $131K /Wk 1
The Left Ear (IND), 13 theaters / $41K Fri. /PTA: $7,684/ 3-day cume: $108K /Wk 1
Sister Code (IND), 100 theaters / $17K Fri. / 3-day cume: $48K /Wk 1
Saint Laurent (SPC), 4 theaters / $9K Fri. /PTA: $9K/ 3-day cume: $36K /Wk 1
Previous, Saturday 8AM after 2:20AM post: Walt Disney’s Avengers: Age of Ultron is still mind-controlling the masses. Late night industry estimates pegged Ultron at $21.9M for Friday, but Disney is calling it at $21.34M this AM. That’s 27% off 2012’s Avengers’ second Friday of $29.2M. Ultron continues to rule over the bulk of business on the B.O. chart, while eight new indie releases step on each others’ toes (Jack Black’s The D Train, from IFC, is derailed outside the top 10, while Arnie’s Maggie can’t scare anyone into theaters). Ultron‘s steep -74% Friday-to-Friday fall is largely attributed to its opening day being pumped up by $27.6M Thursday previews. Insiders forecast a 50% upswing into Saturday with a second weekend of $76.8M and a 10-day total of $310.6M, putting the Marvel sequel 17% behind Avengers at the same point in its run. Showtimes continue to be plentiful (Hollywood Arclight, 32; Bellevue Lincoln Square Cinema in Bellevue, WA , 25; AMC Northpark in Dallas, 23; AMC Lincoln Square NYC, 18) but it’s apparent that most folks saw the film last weekend. A 4:45 PM showing at the 800-seat ArcLight Cinerama Dome on Friday drew about 30 people. Ultron‘s jet packs of 364 Imax venues, 400 premium large format theaters and 2,761 3D engagements remain intact. The Marvel sequel’s B.O. through eight days currently stands at $256.99M.
Disney’s Cinderella doesn’t know when to get off the top 10 dance floor. She fell off during her seventh sesh landing in 12th place, but waltzed back in on the good graces of drive-in theatres last weekend. Cindy is still fox trotting with a studio-reported $440K Friday (vs. $521K). Industry estimates expect her running B.O. to be at about $196M by Sunday, $4M shy of the $200M dance prize.
Mother’s Day weekend has launched some healthy female-skewing films in recent years which have legged out during the summer, i.e. 2013’s The Great Gatsby ($50.1M), 2012’s Dark Shadows ($29.7M) and 2011’s Bridesmaids ($26.2M). Not this year. Warner Bros./MGM-New Line’s estrogen-fueled road comedy Hot Pursuit is parking at the lower end of expectations, with an industry estimated FSS of $12.5M. Both studio and industry reported Friday figures see Hot Pursuit at $4.2M. Even more bad news, moviegoers dinged the Reese Witherspoon-Sofia Vergara comedy with a C+ CinemaScore.
Finding a positive review for Hot Pursuit is akin to looking for a contact lens on a busy ballroom dance floor.
That projected bow is lower than the opening for Witherspoon’s 2012 romance actioner This Means War ($17.4M/domestic B.O. $54.7M). Industry bean counters gave that film a hard time when it opened, given their high expectations: A romantic comedy with an actress of her stature, coupled with burgeoning headliner hunks Tom Hardy and Chris Pine, should have had a $20M-plus bow with its mid-February release date. Witherspoon’s last sour CinemaScore was a C- for 2010’s James L. Brooks comedy How Do You Know. The upside for Hot Pursuit is that its budget was low at $35M and Warner Bros.’ risk was mitigated (MGM plopped down 50%, Rat-Pac 12.5% and WB 37.5%).
While comedies are often critic-proof, finding a positive review for Hot Pursuit is akin to looking for a contact lens on a busy ballroom dance floor. It’s unfortunate that Hot Pursuit doesn’t seem to be working stateside. Playing a tightly wound cop, Witherspoon was vying to expand her romantic-comedy zone with a zany road-trip pic. With stellar credits including the Oscar-nominated Wild ($52.5M) and Gone Girl ($368.1M), Witherspoon knows what grown-up women are seeking at the cineplex and is snapping up edgy properties before they hit book shelves. But this pic’s Rotten Tomatoes score is a stinky 6%. Critics just didn’t find it funny (Pete Hammond demanded his 87 minutes back in Deadline’s review).
However, what stings the most with a pic like Hot Pursuit (besides, of course, the B.O. trickle), isn’t a pan from The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal. It’s when a glossy — specifically US Weekly — clearly aimed at the flick’s femme demo — blasts the comedy for being a “brainless and lazy mess.” Sources tell me that the ticket buyers who showed up at Hot Pursuit came for Witherspoon, whose audience skews older, and Vergara. A rival studio executive theorized that Witherspoon could have had a better co-star than Vergara in Hot Pursuit: “TV stars don’t always translate to film and she’s no Melissa McCarthy.” What’s obvious based on the B.O.. evidence is that more women are stoked by raunchy R-rated comedies — i.e., Bridesmaids ($169.1M), The Heat ($159.6M), Sex and the City ($152.6M), Tammy ($84.5M) — than PG-13 ones like Hot Pursuit.
The film earned a C+ CinemaScore, but Witherspoon and Vergara’s promotional efforts during Hot Pursuit were A+, rivaling Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart’s tubthumping for Get Hard. Witherspoon timed the launch of her fashion label Draper James with the film’s bow. Vergara was lauded with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. They both made a stop at New York’s Met Gala and were relentless on social media.
Lionsgate is reporting $1.53M at 2,991 venues for Age of Adaline‘s third Friday. By end of weekend, the Lakeshore Entertainment/SKE financed film will have surpassed its $30M budget at the B.O.
A24’s Ex Machina continued to resonate in its expansion from 1,279 to 2,004 theaters seeing a 21% 33% spike on Friday per the distrib with $966K and an anticipated 27% uptick in its fifth frame. Domestic total should exceed $14M. The Weinstein Co.’s Woman in Gold continues to glitter in the top 10 with a projected 10% weekend dip. Fox Searchlight’s second weekend expansion of Far From The Madding Crowd is also reaping fortune with a projected FSS of $638K, up close to threefold from its first weekend. Searchlight is reporting a second Friday of $189K. Despite Arnold Schwarzenegger’s segue from his cookie-cutter action films into smart arthouse zombie flick Maggie, limited audiences haven’t caught on yet shelling out $45K tonight at 79 sites. Ditto for IFC’s Jack Black comedy The D Train which is severely underperforming at 1,009 playdates with an industry estimate of $105K on Friday. China’s The Left Ear is enjoying a per theater average of $7,054 while Sony Pictures Classics’ fashion designer biopic Saint Laurent, which bowed at Cannes last year and became France’s Oscar foreign language entry, has sewn up a PTA of $6,778.
Top 10 per industry estimates for the weekend of May 8-10, 2015 as of 12 midnight:
1). Avengers: Age of Ultron (DIS), 4,276 theaters (0) / $21.9M (-74%) Fri. / 3-day cume: $76.8M (-60%) /Total cume: $310.6M/ Wk 2
2). Hot Pursuit (WB/MGM-New Line), 3,003 theaters / $4.2M* Fri. / 3-day cume: $12.5M / Wk 1
*includes $450K Thursday previews
3). The Age of Adaline (LGF), 3,070 theaters (+79)/ $1.49M Fri. (-33%)/ 3-day cume: $5.17M (-20%) / Total cume: $31.1M/ Wk 3
4). Furious 7 (UNI), 3,004 theaters (-301) / $1.28M Fri. (-41%) / 3-day cume: $4.96M (-25%) / Total cume: $338.1M/ Wk 6
5). Paul Blart Mall Cop 2 (SONY), 3,201 theaters (-347)/ $1.17M Fri. (-34%)/ 3-day cume: $4.9M (-17%)/ Total cume: $57.8M / Wk 4
6). Ex Machina (A24), 2,004 theaters (+725) / $878K Fri. (+21%) / 3-day cume: $2.9M (+27%)/ Total cume: $14.3M / Wk 5
7). Home (FOX/DW), 2,495 theaters (-357) / $599K Fri. (-32%) / 3-day cume: $2.65M (-24%)/ Total cume: $162M / Wk 7
8). Cinderella (DIS), 1,034 theaters (-377) / $521K Fri. (-47%) / 3-day cume: $2.1M (-23%) / Total cume: $196.9M / Wk 9
9). The Longest Ride (FOX), 1,464 theaters (-651) / $417K Fri. (-31%)/ 3-day cume: $1.5M (-12%) / Total cume: $35.4M / Wk 5
10). Woman in Gold (TWC), 1,080 theaters (-46) / $374K Fri. (-22%) / 3-day cume: $1.45M (-10%) / Total cume: $26.8M / Wk 6
Notables:
Far From the Madding Crowd (FSL), 99 theaters (+89) / $195K Fri. (+261%)/ 3-day cume: $638K (+287%) / Total cume: $878K/Wk 2
Piku (YRF), 118 theaters / $180K Fri. / 3-day cume: $551K /Wk 1
The Water Diviner (WB), 385 theaters (0) / $134K Fri. (-38%)/ 3-day cume: $497K (-25%) / Total cume: $3.17M/Wk 3
The D Train (IFC), 1,009 theaters / $150K Fri. / 3-day cume: $406K /Wk 1
Noble (ASP), 150 theaters / $105K Fri. / 3-day cume: $270K /Wk 1
5 Flights Up (FOCW), 87 theaters / $73K Fri. / 3-day cume: $257K /Wk 1
Maggie (RSA), 79 theaters / $45K Fri. / 3-day cume: $131K /Wk 1
Sister Code (IND), 100 theaters / $30K Fri. / 3-day cume: $107K /Wk 1
The Left Ear (IND), 13 theaters / $28K Fri. /PTA: $7,054/ 3-day cume: $92K /Wk 1
Saint Laurent (SPC), 4 theaters / $9K Fri. /PTA: $6,778/ 3-day cume: $27K /Wk 1
Previous, Friday, 8:05AM:Warner Bros./MGM/New Line’s Hot Pursuit generated $450K last night at Thursday previews. The industry is tracking Hot Pursuit in the low to mid-teens for FSS, and the chick road pic could see a Mother’s Day boost on Sunday. The film’s total awareness remains strong among women over 25. Witherspoon’s last mega wide release, This Means War, bowed to $17.4M ($19M including Valentine’s Day showtimes) in February 2012.
Both Witherspoon and Vergara have been working it on social media for the film, reaching out to their respective total social media followers of 18.3M and 5.2M. In real time, both have been in the spotlight at a number of events leading up to the film’s release, i.e. Vergara received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (sending her Instagram to 3.5M per RelishMix) while Witherspoon launched a southern-inspired fashion label Draper James. Both made a splash at the Met Gala. Hot Pursuit YouTube videos reached 7.3M.
Disney’s Avengers: Age Of Ultron from Marvel is expected to have a lock on No. 1 with industry projections seeing a 55% to 60% drop from its $191.3M opening for $76.5M-$86M. Ultron is expected to see a steeper decline today due to the fact that its first Friday of $84.4M was bolstered by $27.6M Thursday night shows which repped 14% of its weekend haul. However, the superhero pic could see a bigger Friday-to-Saturday boost than a week ago since Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather are keeping it calm this weekend.
Also bowing today is IFC’s Jack Black comedy The D Train in 1,009 locations.
HOT PURSUIT looks horrible, lazy and sexist – and according to the terrible reviews, it is. For the past year, we’ve heard Witherspoon and her partner drone on about how there aren’t enough great roles for women, so they are out to change that – and then this is what they come up with? Ugh. I hope it bombs.
Woman are allowed to make crappy comedy blockbusters too!
Not those who should know better like Reese.
No worse than Wedding Ringer, Get Hard or any other studio comedies of late.
they at least had edge and had comedians with track records in them.
Once upon a time Reese Witherspoon was a huge draw for comedies just look at Legally Blonde, or Sweet Home Alabama but even my sister who loves the actress said the movie is just “Meh” its “ok” this comes down to a bad script and bad casting. Sophia and Reese just dont have the “buddy chemistry”
I love it when men decide what is sexist against women. I saw it in a theater packed with women. Non-stop laughter and they even applauded at the end.
People laughed at a Friedberg & Seltzer movie too but it doesn’t make the movie good.
If you and that audience continue to accept lazy filmmaking and gullible enough to buy in every time, then the garbage truck will just keep rolling on.
I knew it would be bad when for weeks they kept releasing more and more “hilarious” bits to entice would-be audience members. The bits were awful. No thanks.
Man, they keep screwing the pooch on afternoon estimates for Avengers.
Last week, they were pegging it for 90 million plus for Friday and 220 for the weekend, now this afternoon they were saying it would make $90 this weekend and it’s down to $77
Note to Hollywood studios: I will not see ANY movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Period. He ruined my home state as governor. He betrayed the people, he betrayed his family. I put him on the same page as Mel Gibson. They’re both box office poison. Why did anyone expect “Maggie” to do well after he came on board? In terms of “The D Train,” Jack Black has had one hit movie as a leading man “School of Rock” and give him some props for “Bernie,” but that’s about it. He’s strictly supporting material. But these are two movies I won’t waste my time on.
Why are people surprised that Maggie isn’t making money? It’s in 79 theaters, and is available on demand – which means great quality pirated copies are floating around. And it’s a PG-13 rated zombie film with hardly any zombies or violence.
And then it stars Arnold, who millennials reject while embracing random underwear models as the next big action star.
The reason why people are surprised is b/c it looked like Arnie was rebooting himself. And I wonder whether the film was in the hands of the wrong distrib. It seems an A24 or a RADiUS would have turned the film into an arthouse hit.
It’s not just millennials rejecting Arnold. And what’s the difference between embracing an underwear model as the next action star and embracing an Austrian build builder as one? Not like Arnold had any much more going for him when he was first promoted in movies.
Arnie and Mel Gibson aren’t on the same page. Mel is a brilliant filmmaker who is victim of a substance abuse problem, and was painted as an Anti-Semite, which he is not (and only those who worked with him know that). Arnie is a successful actor who was on the wane who had no business running for CA state governor and wasting the state’s $ unseating Gray Davis at the time. Arnie is in need of rebooting his position on the big screen and it appeared “Maggie” was it — but none of the movie bloggers were quick to embrace the movie. They were unfazed by it.
Count me in as one of those who never want to see Arnie in anything again. I switched the TV off when he appeared in the finale episode of Two and a Half Men.
You should’ve done that BEFORE Two and a Half Men came on, not during.
I know it sounds odd to say that a film that will likely cross the 1.5 billion dollar worldwide mark is disappointing…but I expected Ultron to be doing better.
Perhaps it’s simply the novelty factor that isn’t there for a sequel. But as happy as Disney will (probably) be with the final numbers, I thought it would close in on 2 billion. I wonder if the “R” rated Mad Max will take a bite out of it next week.
The reason is simple, the film is not good enough. Marvel Studios seriously needs a competition, March 26th 2016 cannot come soon enough.
All that really matters is did it make money and the answer to that questions YES!!! What Hollywood turns out now is a product, just like a Hershey’s Kiss on a production line in a factory, nothing more, and in Disney’s case it’s a product to sell more products, more sequels, and it really doesn’t matter what the U.S. thinks because it’s the whole world that counts.
This isn’t 1930 this isn’t Hollywood that makes art films; you want art films, with deep meaning don’t look at Disney or Marvel or Lucasfilm. The object is to get paying people in theater seats then to have those people go out and buy merchandise. Whether a movie is good or not is really irrelevant.
I don’t at all disagree with you, but this sounds just like Dick Jones in “Robocop,” 1987. Ultron is a product.
Agreed (Batman vs. Superman aside, i would add X-Men Apocalypse). Marvel is slowly choking the life out of superhero sub-genre.
Marvel only releases 2 films a year 1 in May and 1 in July as far as films I really don’t think Marvel is “choking the life out of superhero sub-genre” With Lucasfilms Star Wars 1 film a year, Pixar’s 1 film a year, and POTC in a few years they might be choking the life out of tent pole films.
Now with all the other TV series (ABC) and (Netflix) they might be, but they do have to make the two $4 billion purchases worth while,
While I admit that I’m excited about Batman V. Superman, Suicide Squad, and X-Men: Apocalypse as much as any “comic book” movie being made…that doesn’t mean I’m not interested in Disney’s films.
Dr. Strange ranks as high as those three, and Black Panther and The Inhumans (years from now) are not too far behind.
I do have a preference for the more mature feel of the Warner and Fox films. But it’s hard to tell if fans feel the same way. Iron Man 3 was a pretty bad film, and it did astronomical business.
But (as poster “JT” mentioned), Disney DOES need competition. At the moment, only X-Men is providing any…and Disney is doing their best to undermine those efforts.
completly disagree with you; most peoples and critics think Iron Man 3 is a good movie, and if I should compare, I take every Marvel studios movies (Avengers etc…); that the mediocre fox superheroes movies,
I find the x-men fox movies boring, and I’m not really interesting by the warner bros project…too dark and gritty, colorless, these movies are clearly ashamed to be comicbook movies; unlike Marvel Studios.
Your tastes are clearly different to mine. I suspect you also will never find anything wrong with a Disney/Marvel film. Iron Man 3…like Thor: The Dark World…were simply not good movies. Unlike you, I’m fine with praising and criticizing films from ANY studio about ANY film. Captain America: The Winter Soldier was a brilliant film. Not just a great superhero film, it was a great film…period. It was one of those rare cases where the sequel outstripped the original by a mile. Disney’s films are an undeniable success at the box-office. But the films themselves are not quite so cut and dry. This is my concern…if Disney continues to make a ton of money out of dreck like Iron Man 3, why do they have to even try to put together something like a Winter Soldier?
Iron Man 3 and Thor 2 may be the exception to the rule, or they may be the future of Disney/Marvel. Again…unlike you…I like the Warner and Fox films. In a strange way, it feels like I’m getting my fluff entertainment, wrapped in something more mature. That’s not to say that Warner and Fox are without flaws. The Wolverine (Origins) film was a piece of garbage that made Iron Man 3 look like an Oscar contender, and Man of Steel was far too reliant on destruction.
At the end of the day, it’s all subjective. I believe that Disney DOES have its pulse on what the masses want. I just happen to enjoy something that stretches the boundaries a bit more (like The Winter Soldier, did). The Avengers films were good, and fun, and highly entertaining. But they didn’t feed me the way I want. I guess you can blame Christopher Nolan for my point of view.
From who ? Batman vs Superman, after the mediocre Man of Steel; and the boring trailer; I seriously don’t think they need this kind of competition.
Age of Ultron is very good; specially if you compare with the other competition (fox and warner); for the box office; lot of sequels don’t have the same success that the original, it nothing to do with their qualities (for example Empire Strike back; Spider-man 2 etc….).
Paul928
I willl be fine to praise other movies studios, if they have proven me that they can do good comicbook movies; that your opinion that Iron Man 3 and Thor the Dark World are “not good movies” (for me they are very good); but like I say I take any day these movies to the so-called competition.
Man of steel is disaster (a rotten movie); I hate the Nolan movies too for various reason (stupid, dark, false realism; horrible actions sequences etc…); the fox movies are simply an insult the x-men comics…
I think the difference between you and me is very simple; I wait a good comicbook adaption movies (who respect the original comics); and you simply want a so-called “mature” movies (dark, colorless etc.. direspectful to the original comics) simply because they want to be “mature” and try to be the most different of the comics simply because they are ashamed to do these movies…in fact; unlike the Marvel Studios movies, they barely look like their comicbook counterpart.
The first Superman movies by Donner were amazing; I really like the old Wonder Woman tv show; the old batman movies… today we have the opposite with fox and warner with their the dark gritty realistic tone and I’m really tired of that.
But I guess we can agree to disagree.
I also want to say Marvel Studios have done an amazing jobs with their movies; to built a real universe, they have a clear project; warner and fox try to imitate them (for me we can call them parasites) without clear plan (various retcon in x-fox movies etc…)…like a writer for the futur wonder woman have said about these dc movies:
“felt like they were throwing shit against the wall to see what stuck.”
I only want Hot Pursuit to do well because it is rare for a film starring two women and directed by a woman to even get a wide release. If it flops, just all the more reason that hollywood execs can just say no next time.
Then you are adding to the problem of crappy and lazy movies flooding the screens. It is inexcusable and unacceptable.
How about making sure the movie is actually good and place some effort into it. Just because it is directed by a woman, doesn’t mean she should get a free pass to make bad movies. No one should be given a free pass to make bad movies.
No one sets out to make bad movies. Getting movies made is so hard to begin with. You only get to say that it is one if you actually saw it.
No one set out to make bad movies but they can at least put some effort into it. Clearly many movies don’t and knowingly so just to get an easy buck.
Well Reese Witherspoon has been out of A-list status few years now. This just proves it again. She has name recognition. But no one cares to see her movies or read her interviews. Her time past. She is one of those actors that had 2-3 box-office hits at some period of few years. But then public loses interest.
Public lost interest in Reese basically right after she won that Oscar. Same with Natalie Portman. Anne Hethaway was lucky to get supporting role in Interstellar. But if she will do Lead role in some movie then it will probably fail too. Oscar curse. Not even curse. But public is just tired after actor is in their faces for 5 months during awards season.
I’m tired of Matthew McConaughey too. Actors should really stop with aggressive Oscar campaigns.
Her career was in trouble as soon as she yelled “don’t you know who I am?!” to that cop.
Actually, according to box office receipts, her career was in trouble long before that.
I don’t mean to be zenophobic or sexist but I wonder whether it was actually a good idea to release Far from the Madding Crowd in the US when they did. Given that Thomas Hardy’s novel was big with British women I’m suprised any of the Americans actually saw FFTMD. Granted it has more artestry than Hot Pursuit. Maybe it should have come out this weekend afterall Carey Mulligan has a track record since Gatsby
It’s being platformed release – so it was only in a few theaters last weekend and is in more this weekend. So, for all intents and purposes, it is opening this weekend. I would suggest that this isn’t a late Spring/Summer movie at all, and they should have waited until Fall to release it so it could have been an awards contender.
I hope Hollywood stops trying to jam women into every role in every movie whether or not a woman makes sense for it. Yes, we know Bridesmaids was great. That doesn’t mean that every comedy has to be female driven to work. Stop being so reductionist.
They aren’t. Men are the leads or co-leads in the vast majority of movies.
As far as I am concerned, I never thought women could make comedies that are as bad as the ones we see from Happy Madison. But they did. Absolutely sad. If women want to make an impact in the comedy genre, they need to make a quality, A-grade title and not desperate junk like this. Witherspoon is a talented actress and producer (she did co-produce Gone Girl, after all), but she clearly went for the money here, and oughta know better. Vergara on the other hand is a terrible actress whose only good role was in ABC’s “Modern Family”. She needs to find another job. Overall, “Hot Pursuit” is everything I hate about bad comedies: It’s sexist, lazy and offensive. A true contender for the year’s worst film. I can’t believe I found a film worse than Fifty Shades Of Grey, and that’s not a compliment. Projects like these should be sent back to the drawing board.
Why are we saddling all women with the performance of one forgettable trifle of a film? There are so few women directors or executives that the misses and mistakes of any of them are magnified, and that’s just not fair.
Can’t speak for everyone, but I personally WANT to see more women-led and women-directed movies do well at the box office, and that’s why it’s such a disappointment when a major studio movie directed by and starring women is such a stinker. It’s like, “You had a huge opportunity to prove that these movies can succeed, and you blew it!”
That said, if you prefer, I’ll eagerly blame the awfulness of “Hot Pursuit” on its two male screenwriters, David Feeney and John Quaintance. (Though I’m guessing the script had at least 3-4 more uncredited writers.)
There is enough blame to go around for this.
And like I mentioned before, If the movie is terrible, whether it is female-led/female directed, it should not make money. It only adds to more crap getting to the screen. And if support bad movies that is female- led/female directed making money, then you’re part of the problem.
It’s inexcusable.
How about supporting good movies so we won’t be subjected to the flood of garbage flooding the marketplace.
Yeah, blame the writers. You are an idiot.
do you really think Reese had anything to do with GONE GIRL? Yeah, she set it up, but as soon as Fincher came on, he and his producing partner pushed Reese and her partner aside. Reese set that book up with the hopes of starring in it, but Fincher said, “no way.”
I saw Avengers y’day. Real low stakes sequel. I mean, it’s all set-up for the bigger films that are left to come, not to mention it’s an audition reel for superheros like The Vision, Scarlett Witch to see if they will get their own films. Also, don’t know why Marvel yet hasn’t given Scarlett Johansson her own film. Ridiculous.
It doesn’t really matter to me anymore. Comic book movie burnout has set in for me and tired of them flooding the screens. Even if Marvel does give ScarJo that solo Black Widow movie, I could care less because I’m tired of them.
You’re easily burned out then.
I saw Hot Pursuit last night. It’s a fun movie, but it’s not a great movie. I feel that Midnight Run is a near perfect film and if you’re making an odd couple on the run movie you have to aspire to the ones that worked and know WHY they worked. The reason Hot Pursuit doesn’t work is because of the weak script and the director. The tone of the film is inconsistent between fun odd couple on the run movie and completely over the top stupid criminals being way too goofy. And we never really learn anything personal about our lead characters as they ‘bond’ along the way. The characters are more clichés than revealing and intimate portraits (and I say that with the bar being Midnight Run, I’m not talking Schindler’s List here). I’m a huge Sofia V fan, but she was black and white with nothing subtle in between to let us know there might be something else at work in her motivations (that is her fault and the directors). And, Reece was great, but again too one note with that flawed material. Why was someone raised to be a cop seemingly a clueless human being as opposed to a truly great cop who just did everything by the book and couldn’t be swayed to break the rules. This film could have been a true gem but a weak script (with bad guys who in one scene are menacing and a real threat and in the next joke about how good Reece’s bus driving skills are) that keeps it from being memorable. What a shame. I had high hopes. And, I think that’s why this flop is sticking out from other mediocre comedies. When you have Sofie and Reece you expect a much better quality movie than when you have Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart. Reece is an amazing actress and she should have known that script didn’t work.
Arnie is done outside of Terminator and Expendables movies. I guess “straight to video” as a career option, like Steven Seagal or 2000s era Snipes, is dead. Straight to Netflix?
Hate to upset the critics, but it’s very funny. Word of mouth is going to be excellent.
Hahahahahahahaha.
Er, no.
I thought the movie was awesome! So did the other people I went with. I think the hard part is getting to the theatre to see it but when you do it won’t disappoint!
I Loved watching Sophia and Reese they were funny and everyone clapped after the movie was over!
They probably clapped BECAUSE it was over.
Age of Ultron is now officially trailing The Dark Knight ($312 million vs $313 million through 10 days) and it doesn’t look like it will come close to even $500 million domestically. I know it’s still a big moneymaker, but there’s no denying that it’s a little of a disappointment considering it will make about $150 million less than the first Avengers.
I would like to know how OLD the writer was that called 50 YEARS OLD =REALLY OLD? Really? if over 50 is really old what does this critic call 85 yr olds?
if over 50 is OLD, what does this critic call those over 80? 50 is not old anymore, sweetie.
The D Train movie with Jack Black is a super bomb. It opened in 1009 theaters and did 465K for an average per theater total of $460.00. This is not a typo. It is 460 per theater for the weekend. From the reviews I see the plot is that Jack Black wants a tv performer to come to their 20th high school reunion. Jack Black plays a schmo and the other guy is handsome and does tv commericals. Well they meet up and Jack tries to talk him into coming. And how is this for a twist? They go to bed and have sex with each other. This is also not a typo. This is not going to help Mr. Black’s career. I know I will stay far away from anything he does. Is he nuts?
not sure what Vergara did to deserve a star on the Walk of Fame.
she bought it. just like everyone else…