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'Avengers: Age of Ultron' Opens to $180m

Why did the massively-hyped ultimately 'fail' at the box office?

Story by Matt Cummings

It goes without saying that Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron has the most hyped (and anticipated) film of the year so far. WIth a marketing campaign hitting every sector, it was an accepted fact that the superhero team-up follow-up would rake in big bucks in its opening weekend. And while it beat out Furious 7's massive opening, it failed to overtake its better brother.

According to BoxOfficeMojo, Ultron opened to $187.7 million in 4,276 theaters in North America. That puts it #2 behind the all-time leader, 2012's The Avengers. Worldwide, the film has made a staggering $627 million in only 12 days, surpassing Captain America: The First Avenger ($371m), Thor ($449m), Iron Man ($583m) and Iron Man 2 ($622m). Back in The States, it was hoped that it could beat the $207.4m debut of the first Avengers: instead, it finished more than 9% behind.

What Happened?
So, why did Ultron fail to become #1 overall? Perhaps it was Saturday night's Manny Pacquiao/Floyd Mayweather fight. The Pay-Per-View event drew millions of potential fans hoping to see the biggest fight in recent history. That anticipation certainly cut into Saturday's Avengers haul, dropping 40 percent day-to-day. The tone changed after an incredibly strong Friday ($84.5m), leaving a Saturday that saw it take in only $57.2m. Perhaps it was the drop in numbers by RottenTomatoes as the weekend wore on, the lower-than-expected grade from CinemaScore (A), or the Helicarrier full of critics that have dinged it. Audience reaction to the film itself hasn't changed - at the time of this posting it stood a strong 90% on Tomatoes, which was the same for 2012's The Avengers - but it's only been in the US for one weekend.

And yet, there is plenty of good news to discuss. Disney and Marvel now boast the top three opening weekends of all time: Avengers, Iron Man 3, and Ultron, which pushed out Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 Also, Imax theaters benefitted greatly from Director Joss Whedon's final Marvel film: it generated $25.2m in worldwide ticket sales, including $18m in the U.S. Finally, numbers suggest it could hit $1 billion worldwide in less than three weeks, as it has yet to premiere in China.

The Hulk in the Room
But there's two Hulk-sized questions that no one seems ready to call yet: will it endure through next weekend, and does it have enough to ultimately match the $1.5b earned by Avengers worldwide? The key to any film's success lies in repeat viewings and new moviegoers taking a chance on the hype. For al that it does well, newbies might find themselves asking a lot more questions than enjoying the film. Marvel does a loyal fan base, and Whedon has made the film so dense that repeat viewings are pretty much essential. But is it possible that this week's cop comedy Hot Pursuit could beat it? Perhaps not, but then again we all thought Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 would flounder. We just don't understand you guys sometimes.

In the end, it's probably not fair to suggest that a $180-million-plus debut is disappointing; anyone would take that. But some people over at Disney and Marvel do have to ask themselves whether it can endure through a May that includes Mad Max: Fury Road in two weeks. That reality could be the ultimate undoing of Ultron, throwing 2015's larger expectation of the largest ever in terms of box office revenue into a tailspin.

Sources: BoxOfficeMojo, THR

Discuss this story with fellow SJF fans on Facebook. On Twitter, follow us at @SandwichJohnFilms, and follow author Matt Cummings at @mfc90125.

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