Blake Lively’s “The Age of Adaline” is giving “Furious 7” a run for the money at the box office this weekend, and “Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2” isn’t far behind.
The Vin Diesel-Dwayne Johnson hot car blockbuster still has the inside track at being the first movie to win four consecutive weekends since “The Hunger Games” did it in 2012. “Furious 7” rolled to $4.8 million from a market-high 3,808 theaters Friday, which Universal estimates will translate into a roughly $16 million three-day total. That would probably be enough for it to reclaim the No. 1 spot it has held since opening on April 3 and rolling to $1.2 billion at the global box office in record time.
But Lionsgate’s “Age of Adaline” was on top Friday with $4.9 million from 2,991 theaters in its first day of release, and will wind up with between $12 million and $13 million for the weekend. That will put it right in the mix with “Furious 7” and Sony’s “Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2.” The family comedy sequel starring Kevin James was third Friday with $3.7 million from 3,663 theaters and is looking at a roughly $13 million second week.
The audiences for “Furious 7” and “Blart 2” skew younger than the female-dominated crowd driving “Age of Adaline” however, and that will in theory give those two an edge on Saturday and Sunday. Nonetheless, it’s a strong start for the $30 million drama about a young woman caught in time from Sidney Kimmel Entertainment and Lakeshore Entertainment
Audiences awarded an “A-” Cinemascore to the Lee Toland Krieger-directed “Age of Adaline,” which co-stars Ellen Burstyn, Michael Huisman and Harrison Ford, and was produced by Tom Rosenberg, Gary Lucchesi and Kimmel. That will boost word of mouth, key to the long-term playability vital to its financial success.
A24 aggressively expanded its sci-fi fantasy “Ex Machina” from 39 to 1,255 theaters and it brought in $1.7 million Friday. That was good for sixth place and translates to around $4.8 million for the British import written and directed by Alex Garland. Its $1,360 per-screen average was behind only the $1,650 average of “Age of Adaline.”
The weekend’s other wide opener, the faith-based historical drama “Little Boy,” debuted in eighth place with $1.3 million from 1,046 theaters Friday. It’s looking at around $3.6 million over the three days for Open Road Films.
DreamWorks Animation’s kids film “Home” continued to play steadily in its fifth week and will likely finish the weekend in fourth place with around $8 million. It brought in $1.8 million Friday and its domestic haul should top $150 million by Sunday.
Universal’s micro-budget teen horror tale “Unfriended” tumbled roughly 70 percent in its second week and brought in just over $2 million from 2,012 theaters on Friday. The cyberbullying tale from Blumhouse Productions is on pace for sixth place and a $6 million second weekend. That would up the domestic total for the R-rated horror tale to nearly $25 million, not bad on a $1 million budget.
The Fox romance “The Longest Ride,” Warner Bros.’ Kevin Hart-Will Ferrell comedy “Get Hard” and the Disneynature documentary “Monkey Kingdom” rounded out the top ten. They’ll all finish with between $3 million and $4 million for the three days.
The weekend was running more than 20 percent behind last year’s comparable frame, when “The Other Woman” opened at No. 1 with $24 million. Some of the dropoff can be attributed to moviegoers holding off until next weekend, when Disney and Marvel will kick off the summer with “Avengers: The Age of Ultron.”