Excuse Hollywood studios and theater owners for being slightly off with their original box office estimates for “Avengers: Age of Ultron.” Movies that debut to over $150 million don't open every month let alone every year. In fact, “Age of Ultron” is only the ninth film in history to do so. Originally, Walt Disney Studios estimated that “Age of Ultron” had earned $187.6 million. When Sunday's final ticket sales came in the total jumped to $191.3 million.
While pre-release polling indicated a debut bigger than the original “Avengers'” $207.4 million, “Ultron's” gross is still the no. 2 all-time and it's clear the numerous sporting events on Saturday distracted casual moviegoers. They clearly made up for it on Sunday however. The studio was already being aggressive originally estimating just a 19.7% drop from Saturday to Sunday. The actual drop was approximately 13%. For comparison's sake, the first “Avengers” dropped 18% from Saturday to Sunday and “Iron Man 3” dropped 30.9%. Clearly, the Mayweather and Pacquiao fight, NBA playoff game and Kentucky Derby combined to diminish Saturday's results and “Age of Ultron's” opening weekend overall.
Joss Whedon's last foray into the Marvel Cinematic Universe has little competition this weekend with only Warner Bros.' “Hot Pursuit” and IFC Films' “The D Train” opening on Friday. Its first challenge will be “Pitch Perfect 2” on May 15. That sequel is currently tracking at a $40-45 million opening.