Marvel’s superhero sequel “Avengers: Age of Ultron” continued etching its name into the box office record books Friday, rolling up another $21.3 million and positioning itself for an $85 million second consecutive weekend triumph at the box office.
The Reese Witherspoon–Sofia Vergara comedy “Hot Pursuit” ran a very distant second with $4.2 million from 3,003 theaters in its first day Friday, and is looking at $12 million opened weekend for MGM and Warner Bros.’ New Line.
“Age of Ultron” is heading for the second-best second weekend ever, behind only the $103 million that the original Marvel superhero mash-up managed in its second weekend in 2012. And it would easily the best second weekend by any movie this year, ahead of “American Sniper” ($64.6 million) and “Furious 7” ($59.5 million).
On its current pace, the second weekend by “Age of Ultron” will be off roughly 55 percent from its $191.2 million debut last weekend. That was the second-best ever as well, behind only the $207.4 million first weekend of “The Avengers,” which fell off 50 percent in its second weekend.
While its becoming clear “Age of Ultron” won’t match the domestic haul of the film for Disney, the sequel remains on pace to out-earn it overseas and beat the $1.51 billion it eventually took in at the worldwide box office.
That would make it the third-highest-grossing film ever, behind only James Cameron‘s 2009 blockbuster “Avatar” ($2.8 billion) and his 1997 epic “Titanic” ($2.2 billion). Universal’s “Furious 7” zoomed into fourth place with $1.4 billion last month.