The Weekend Report

It was a four-peat as Furious 7 shifted down a gear and still finished ahead of the pack with an estimated $18.2 million. The sessions only wide national release was the saga of eternal love The Age of Adaline that opened third with $13.3 million. Two other films opened in limited wide to fair results. World War II-set Little Boy bowed to $2.7 million while Russell Crowe’s World War I saga The Water Diviner grossed $1.2 million. Considerably better was the national expansion of Ex Machina that held strong with $5.3 million at 1255 locations.

Exclusive bows were dull except for the enduring appeal of Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck that hit a potent commercial Nirvana with $152,000 from a mere three screens.

In the niches, Telugu Dohchay had limp results of $135,000 and high school basketball drama Brotherly Love failed to make a break with a $250,000 tally. In Québec,  romcom sequel Aurelie LaFlamme: Les pieds sure terre still had some juice with a $229,000 opener from 66 venues. Filipino Kid Kulafu claimed only $88,800.

Weekend biz barely hit $100 million that translated to a 19% decline from seven days prior and a comparable 16% drop from 2014. A year ago the launch of The Other Woman was tops with $24.8 million.

It’s still a week to the start of summer with the opening of Avengers: Age of Ultron that could bow to a staggering $200 million when it launches domestically. But for now, the Marvelous sequel took advantage of May Day celebrations internationally with openings in 44 territories that generated an estimated $200 million. South Korea and the UK led with respective bows of $28.2 million and $27.3 million. The behemoth still has China, Japan and Mexico to open among major markets.

Star-crossed or otherwise The Age of Adaline was expected to appeal to an older female audience and gross in the low teens. With exit polls identifying the crowd as 75% distaff with 58% of viewers aged 25-years and older it definitely achieved its goal and grossed its perceived appeal… or perhaps slightly better.

Eyes were on Russell Crowe’s fiction directorial debut The Water Diviner that tells the semi-factual story of a father’s search for the bodies of three sons killed in the 1915 Gallipoli campaign. While of admittedly limited appeal domestically the verdict is he acquitted himself well in an ambitious first venture. And with a $19 million box office from Australia, New Zealand and Turkey (and $26 million international cume) he should have no problem getting another shot behind the camera.

Be Sociable, Share!

• 
•