This was an exciting weekend at the box office as two vastly different films competed to knock Avengers: Age of Ultron out of the top spot. There was a clear winner with Pitch Perfect 2 taking the crown with an outstanding $70.3 million gross. The original only made $65 million in its entire North American run, but the film’s success on home platforms boosted the sequel to a huge opening. Even if you weren’t a fan of the movie, there are at least two reasons to be thankful that  Pitch Perfect 2 is a hit. First, every time a female-led movie is a smash at the box office, Hollywood wants to make more. Secondly, of the five biggest opening weekends this year so far, two of them belong to women: Sam Taylor-Johnson with Fifty Shades of Grey and now Elizabeth Banks with Pitch Perfect 2. Banks also now holds the distinction of biggest opening weekend for a debut director, male or female.

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Image via Warner Bros.

So for those who bemoan Mad Max: Fury Road’s second place finish, don’t whine about how this was a fruitless weekend, especially when George Miller’s movie finished was solid $44.4 million. Near-unanimous critical acclaim is terrific, but nothing stops Mad Max from being an R-rated film going up against two PG-13 movies. And I’m glad Fury Road is rated R, and the film is already shaping up to do well overseas.

As expected, Avengers: Age of Ultron clung to the #3 spot, and after bringing in $38 million this weekend, its cumulative total now sits at $372 million. The movie now holds the crown of biggest domestic hit of 2015, and right now I can only see one movie taking away that title. That movie has a wookie.


Now it will be interesting to see how next week pans out. The summer’s first big horror film will arrive with Poltergeist and then there’s Brad Bird’s Tomorrowland, which may have its roots in Disney mythos, but may as well be an original sci-fi film. Until then, here’s this weekend’s top ten:

Title

Weekend

Total

1.

Pitch Perfect 2

$70,300,000

$70.3

2.

Mad Max: Fury Road

$44,440,000

$44.4

3.

Avengers: Age of Ultron

$38,837,000

$37.2

4.

Hot Pursuit

$5,780,000

$23.5

5.

Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2

$3,600,000

$63

6.

Furious 7

$3,600,000

$343.8

7.

The Age of Adaline

$3,200,000

$37

8.

Home

$2,700,000

$165.6

9.

Ex Machina

$2,103,000

$19.6

10.

Far from the Maddening Crowd

$1,300,000

$2.6


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