LOS ANGELES -- Avengers: Age of Ultron proved its box-office might with about $191 million launch in U.S. and Canadian theaters, the second-best domestic opening weekend ever, but the film may have fallen short of No. 1 because of a boxing match.
Going into the weekend, the Disney Studios/Marvel film, which cost $250 million to make, had been tracking to debut between $190 million and $230 million, giving it decent odds at breaking the $207.4 million record set by The Avengers in 2012.
The studio, however, adjusted its expectations on Saturday evening given several major competing events, including the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Manny Pacquiao fight in Las Vegas that kept some potential moviegoers in front of TV sets instead.
"Between the boxing match, NHL and NBA playoffs, the Kentucky Derby ... looks like folks were distracted," said Dave Hollis, Disney's head of distribution. "But the second-biggest opening in history of movie business is something to be proud of and also just the beginning of what we expect to be a spectacular run."
Age of Ultron is the biggest debut for a sequel, coming in ahead of the $174.1 million opening weekend for Iron Man 3 in May 2013. If Age of Ultron can get fans who missed opening weekend to turn out at theaters in subsequent weeks, the film has a shot at duplicating the success of the first Avengers installment, which went on to make $1.5 billion worldwide.
Directed by Joss Whedon, Age of Ultron follows superheroes Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) as they battle against technological villain Ultron (James Spader).
"Ultron appealed to young and old, with about 59 percent of the audience older than 25, suggesting widespread appeal," Hollis said.
"That's the goal when you are building something that's meant to be as big as this," he said.
The film's $84.5 million gross last Friday made it second to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 ($91 million) as the biggest single day in box office history. Powered by an A rating from audience polling firm CinemaScore, the Avengers sequel promises to continue doing well.
Disney said Age of Ultron made about $439 million in overseas markets from its rollout April 22 through last weekend, bringing the film's total global haul to about $627 million in 12 days.
It was the No. 1 movie in every market in which it opened, including France, Italy, Germany, Britain, Australia, South Korea, Argentina and Brazil.
Back in the United States and Canada, Lionsgate's The Age of Adeline came in third with $6.2 million. The film, which stars Blake Lively, has made $23.4 million domestically to date.
Furious 7 came in second, adding about $6.6 million in its fifth weekend and raising its domestic haul to $331 million. Universal Pictures reported the film has made $1.4 billion worldwide, making it the fourth-highest-grossing film of all time worldwide, behind Avatar ($2.8 billion), Titanic ($2.2 billion) and The Avengers.
Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 finished the weekend in fourth, adding about $5.9 million. The comedy sequel has made about $51.5 million in U.S. and Canadian theaters to date.
DreamWorks Animation's Home, released by 20th Century Fox, rounded out the top five with about $3.5 million. The animated film has made $158.3 million domestically.
In limited release, Fox Searchlight's remake of Far From the Madding Crowd earned $172,000 in just 10 locations, for a strong per-theater average of $17,200. The film, based on the book by Thomas Hardy, stars Carey Mulligan as the independent and beautiful Bathsheba Everdene, who attracts three very different suitors. This weekend, Fox Searchlight will add 19 new markets.
A24's Ex Machina drew $2.3 million after expanding to 1,279 theaters. The highly acclaimed film, which finished at No. 7 last weekend, has made $10.9 million to date.
Year-to-date, the box office is up 5.6 percent, according to research firm Rentrak. The weekend's total haul is up an estimated 46 percent from the same time last year, when The Amazing Spider-Man 2 debuted with $91.6 million.
Age of Ultron marks the start of the summer season. The industry experienced one of its worst summers in 2014, grossing about $4.05 billion, compared with $4.75 billion in 2013. Even more telling, no film crossed the $300 million mark domestically, the first time that happened since 2001.
Analysts have said this summer will likely set records with a robust lineup that includes action films such as Jurassic World, Terminator: Genisys, Ant-Man and Fantastic Four, as well as female-driven flicks such as Pitch Perfect 2, Spy, Magic Mike XXL and Paper Towns.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters last Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Rentrak:
Avengers: Age of Ultron, Disney, $191,271,109, 4,276 locations, $44,731 average, $191,271,109, one week.
Furious 7, Universal, $6,644,140, 3,305 locations, $2,010 average, $331,068,495, five weeks.
The Age Of Adaline, Lionsgate, $6,203,253, 2,991 locations, $2,074 average, $23,377,371, two weeks.
Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, Columbia, $5,880,022, 3,548 locations, $1,657 average, $51,516,418, three weeks.
Home, 20th Century Fox, $3,472,177, 2,852 locations, $1,217 average, $158,304,454, six weeks.
Cinderella, Disney, $2,745,090, 1,411 locations, $1,945 average, $194,038,460, eight weeks.
Ex Machina, A24 Films, $2,285,997, 1,279 locations, $1,787 average, $10,923,634, four weeks.
Unfriended, Universal, $2,210,960, 2,221 locations, $995 average, $28,754,625, three weeks.
The Longest Ride, 20th Century Fox, $1,704,810, 2,115 locations, $806 average, $33,245,253, six weeks.
Woman in Gold, The Weinstein Co., $1,605,252, 1,126 locations, $1,426 average, $24,512,725, five weeks.
Monkey Kingdom, Disney, $1,217,660, 1,732 locations, $703 average, $12,509,312, three weeks.
Get Hard, Warner Bros., $1,189,012, 1,465 locations, $812 average, $86,207,021, six weeks.
The Divergent Series: Insurgent, Lionsgate, $914,327, 1,291 locations, $708 average, $126,481,352, seven weeks.
Little Boy, Open Road, $878,415, 1,045 locations, $841 average, $4,248,030, two weeks.
The Water Diviner, Warner Bros., $662,747, 385 locations, $1,721 average, $2,337,257, two weeks.
American Sniper, Warner Bros., $443,915, 422 locations, $1,052 average, $348,861,464, 19 weeks.
While We're Young, A24 Films, $439,984, 374 locations, $1,176 average, $6,448,584, six weeks.
Gabbar Is Back, Eros Entertainment, $276,429, 107 locations, $2,583 average, $276,429, one week.
Clouds of Sils Maria, IFC Films, $261,667, 164 locations, $1,596 average, $870,950, four weeks.
Danny Collins, Bleecker Street, $218,967, 204 locations, $1,073 average, $5,130,351, seven weeks.
MovieStyle on 05/08/2015