In the calm before the storm (Avengers: Age of Ultron), Furious 7 continued its dominance over the North American box office, while The Age of Adaline had a respectable debut in third place. The sixth sequel amassed another $18.3 million, getting its best hold yet with a 37% drop. It is the first movie since The Hunger Games in 2012 to top the box office for four straight weekends. Of course, without major new competition before the summer box office begins next weekend, another crowning position on the charts was expected.
The racing behemoth has already surpassed the $320 million mark and generally, it would be a lock to cross the $350 mark at this point. However, with Avengers: Age of Ultron set to assemble massive audiences next weekend – and likely gun for the opening weekend record, beating its predecessor – Furious 7 should lose much of its firepower, along with its IMAX and high format screens. Regardless, with more than $1.3 billion worldwide in under a month, the film is already the fifth biggest grosser of all time. Incredibly, Furious 7 is only the third movie to make more than $1 billion outside of the United States. (The other two: Avatar and Titanic.)
Holding up surprisingly well given the mediocre audience response was Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, raking in another $15.5 million to take pole position, dropping 35%. With $44 million, the comedy sequel has withstood awful reviews. However, with families likely to abandon Blart for Tony Stark and company next weekend, don’t expect the film to make it far past the $70 million mark total. That will be a finish under half of the original slapstick flick from January 2009.
The Age of Adaline had a decent debut in third place, grossing $13.4 million. That is a fine total considering the film’s low budget ($25 million) and Blake Lively’s unproven stature as a box office draw, and is a better opening than The Longest Ride two weeks ago, a romantic drama that also had Nicholas Sparks’ fan base to help with ticket sales. Adaline, which received an A- CinemaScore, could serve as fine counter-programming to older audiences uninterested in superhero mayhem this May.
Home followed in fourth place, with its best drop yet (-22%) and another $8.3 million. The Fox/DreamWorks hit benefitted from minimal competition and boosted its total to $153.8 million. Expect the 3D animated comedy to finish with around $175 million. Meanwhile, young adults abandoned Unfriended, perhaps to save money for the high-octane action next weekend. The modestly budgeted thriller finished in fifth with $6.2 million, a 61% plummet from its debut. Still, with $25 million so far, it has done perfectly fine, considering its tiny production cost. A finish near $35 million is likely.
