Finishing in fourth with solid results was Poltergeist, the remake of Tobe Hooper and Steven Spielberg’s beloved horror classic, bringing in $23 million in its first three days. That is a solid opening for the genre, which does not typically do well in the early summer. (Chernobyl Diaries could only manage $8 million over Memorial Day weekend in 2012, while Drag Me to Hell could only generate $15.8 million in its May berth.)
Among horror remake openings, though, Poltergeist was just behind the starts for The Amityville Horror ($23.5 million) and Evil Dead ($25.8 million). Meanwhile, the film’s $35 million production cost is much higher than usual for a horror film. The fright flick doesn’t have a four-day estimate, but expect something near $28 million.
Rounding out the Top Five was Avengers: Age of Ultron, which dipped 46% to add another $20.9 million to its behemoth total. With a four-day estimate of $26.8 million and a current $404.1 million total through Sunday, the 3D superhero flick should surpass Iron Man 3‘s total ($409 million) by the end of the long weekend. Age of Ultron‘s family appeal has kept its business strong on Saturdays and Sundays, and without much exciting kids for the next two weekends, the film should still be on its way to passing the $450 million mark. A final in the Top 10 domestic performers of all time is all but assured.
Meanwhile, in its first weekend of wide release, Far from the Madding Crowd finished in seventh place with an estimated $2.3 million (from 865 cinemas). The romance adaptation has earned $5.4 million so far, a decent total for a film with minimal buzz and obscure source material.
Here are the numbers for the Top 10 films at the North American box office for the weekend of May 22 through 24, 2015:
1. Tomorrowland – $32.2 million (NEW)
2. Pitch Perfect 2 – $30.3 million ($117.8 million total)
3. Mad Max: Fury Road – $23.9 million ($87.3 million total)
4. Poltergeist – $23 million (NEW)
5. Avengers: Age of Ultron – $20.9 million ($404.1 million total)
6. Hot Pursuit – $3.5 million ($28.9 million total)
7. Far from the Madding Crowd – $2.3 million ($5.4 million total)
8. Furious 7 – $2.1 million ($347 million total)
9. Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 – $1.8 million ($65.1 million total)
10. Home – $1.7 million ($168 million total)
NOTE: These numbers are weekend estimates based on Friday and Saturday’s estimated takes. Actual numbers for the three-day weekend are reported on Monday afternoon. Actual numbers for the four-day holiday weekend are reported on Tuesday afternoon.