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Box Office Report: ‘Tomorrowland’ Tops Slow Holiday Weekend

Brad Bird’s ‘Tomorrowland’ suffers one of the worst Memorial Day starts in recent history with a $41.7 million North American debut. Meanwhile, ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ speeds past the $100 million mark overseas.

In a rare miss for Disney, Brad Bird’s Tomorrowland suffered one of the worst Memorial Day starts in recent history. The big-budget fantasy adventure, which cost $180 million to produce, debuted to $41.7 million in North America over the four-day weekend, the lowest opening for a big-budget tentpole since Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time launched to $37.8 million in 2010.

Starring George Clooney and Britt Robertson, Tomorrowland was even weaker overseas, grossing $26.7 million from 65 markets, and losing out to Pitch Perfect 2 and Mad Max: Fury Road, both in their second weekends.

Despite its less-than-stellar performance, Tomorrowland was still able to top the box office in North America, where revenues are down more than 15 percent from last year, when X-Men: Days of Future Past opened to $90.8 million.

Now in its second week out, Universal’s Pitch Perfect 2 came in second place, taking in $38.5 million over the four-day weekend for a total of $126 million at the domestic box office. Directed by Elizabeth Banks under a budget of $29 million, the musical comedy has made a total of $61.4 million overseas, pushing the film’s total $187.4 million worldwide.

Mad Max: Fury Road, from Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow Pictures, came in third place for its second outing, taking in $32.1 million over the holiday weekend for a new domestic total of $87.3 million. Overseas, the post-apocalyptic action movie sped past the $100 million mark with $38.2 million from 70 markets for a new foreign total of $124.3 million and global tally of $211.6 million.

Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron came in fourth place domestically, taking in $27.8 million over the long weekend for a total of $411 million, becoming the first film of the year to cross the $400 million mark. Overseas, the Joss Whedon-directed tentpole has made $770.5 million for a total of $1.2 billion globally.

The other new Memorial Day offering, MGM and Fox 2000’s Poltergeist, came in fifth place with a $26.5 million four-day domestic opening fueled mostly by teens. Poltergeist also impressed overseas, collecting $8.1 million from 35 markets for an early worldwide total of $34.6 million. Directed by Gil Kenan and produced by Sam Raimi, the horror remake of the 1982 cult classic was produced for $35 million, and stars Sam Rockwell, Rosemarie DeWitt, Jared Harris and Jane Adams.

MGM and New Line’s Hot Pursuit, starring Reese Witherspoon and Sofia Vergara, placed sixth in its sophomore weekend with $4.6 million for a new domestic total of $30 million. Directed by Anne Fletcher, the female-skewing comedy was produced for $35 million.

Universal’s Furious 7 followed in seventh place with $2.8 million for a domestic total of $347.7 million. Overseas, the latest installment in the Fast and Furious franchise finished Monday with a foreign take of $1.1 billion for a total of $1.5 billion worldwide.

Sony’s Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 came in eighth place with $2.5 million, pushing the film’s domestic total to of $66.4 million. Produced for $67 million, Mall Cop 2 has now grossed $90.3 million worldwide.

DreamWorks Animation’s Home came in ninth place with $2.4 million. Now in its eighth week at the box office, the animated feature has now earned a total of $168.7 million in North America. Overseas Home has made a total of $192.7 million for a global tally of $361.4 million.

Rounding out the list at number 10 is Lionsgate’s The Age of Adaline with $1.9 million. The romance, starring Blake Lively, Harrison Ford and Ellen Burstyn, has now made a total of $40.4 million at the domestic box office.

Meanwhile, at the specialty box office, Studio Ghibli’s When Marnie Was There brought in $35,789 from just two locations for distributor GKIDS. Directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi of The Secret World of Arrietty fame, the 2D animated feature is based on the YA novel by Joan G. Robinson about two girls who form a connection and friendship that blurs the lines between fantasy and reality. While this marks a good start for the title, which expands into wider release beginning May 29, it’s still shy of the Studio’s previous film, The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, which opened to $54,915 from three theaters last October.

Box office numbers were obtained at pro.boxoffice.com.

Jennifer Wolfe's picture

Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.