Overall business may be in line or slightly ahead of the same weekend last year. (I apologize for no predictions, I had a very busy Thursday night).
Pitch Perfect 2 was tracking to be huge, but not this huge. The sequel to the major independent hit pulled in an absolutely spectacular $27.8 million on Friday, nearly matching its $29 million production budget in just one day. Reviews were good, if not as spectacular as those numbers (69% on Rotten Tomatoes), while the CinemaScore was a solid "A-". How high can it go over the weekend? There could be some front-loading, but its guaranteed for at least $55 million over the weekend, and could end up with as much as over $70 million. I'm going to aim for the middle and predict a $62 million weekend.
The females were obviously the victor in a battle of the genders royale, but that doesn't mean Mad Max: Fury Road was a slouch. The surprising critical darling (a stunning 98% on Rotten Tomatoes) pulled in $16.8 million in second place. That's ahead of Pacific Rim's $14.6 million opening day, but the budget was $150 million, so its not a huge debut by all means. The CinemaScore was a "B+". Should Max play out like Pacific Rim, it would wind up with around $44 million for the weekend, with hopes of possible strong word-of-mouth to keep it afloat for a while.
This obviously means that Avengers: Age of Ultron was pushed down to third place after topping the last two weekends. And unfortunately, it still isn't holding well either. The sequel was off another 53% to $10.1 million on Friday. The sequel did pass $1 billion worldwide yesterday, thanks to a strong debut in China. Age of Ultron may pull in around $36 million for its third weekend.
Hot Pursuit obviously felt the brunt of Pitch Perfect 2, and plunged 58% from last Friday to $1.8 million, and will likely end up around $5.5 million for the weekend. In fifth place for the day was The Age of Adaline, which was off 34% to $1 million, and may hit anywhere between $3-3.5 million for the frame. Adaline will likely be passed by Paul Blart - Mall Cop 2 for fifth place over the weekend, as that one probably will end up north of $3.5 million thanks to kids running to theaters over the weekend.
Not to be counted out, Furious 7 was off just 33% from last Friday, and may also pull in $3-$3.5 million for the stretch in its seventh frame.
