Tomorrowland Leads Memorial Day Movies

Disney’s Tomorrowland was able to hold off Universal Pictures’ Pitch Perfect 2 in a close race for first place over the holiday weekend with a four-day debut of $42.68 million. The Brad Bird directed sci-fi family film starring George Clooney and Britt Robertson opened on the low end of expectations. The film’s debut was underwhelming given its large price tag and Memorial Day weekend release. Tomorrowland took in $33.03 million over the three-day weekend.

Frank (George Clooney, left) and Casey (Britt Robertson) in Tomorrowland. (Photo: Kimberley French/Disney)

On the heels of the previous weekend’s break-out start, Pitch Perfect 2 experienced a respectable second weekend hold last weekend with a second place four-day take of $38.25 million. The successful musical comedy sequel starring Anna Kendrick was down 45 percent from its three-day debut weekend. Pitch Perfect 2 zoomed past the $100 million domestic mark last weekend and has grossed a stronger than expected $125.74 million in 11 days. Pitch Perfect 2 grossed $30.81 million over the three-day frame.

Warner Bros. Pictures’ Mad Max: Fury Road placed in third with a four-day take of $31.29 million. The critically acclaimed action film starring Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron was down 31 percent from the previous weekend’s three-day start. Mad Max: Fury Road held up nicely for a high-profile action film in its second weekend of release. The film has grossed $94.72 million in 11 days. That is on the high end of expectations. The three-day take for Mad Max: Fury Road was $24.64 million.

Avengers: Age of Ultron claimed fourth place with a four-day take of $28.20 million. In the process, the blockbuster superhero sequel from Disney and Marvel surpassed the $400 million domestic mark last weekend. Avengers: Age of Ultron was down 27 percent from the prevous weekend and has grossed $411.37 million in 25 days. The film is currently running 21.5 percent behind the $523.91 million 25-day take of 2012’s Marvel’s The Avengers and 10 percent ahead of the $372.78 million 25-day gross of 2013’s Iron Man 3. Avengers: Age of Ultron grossed $21.69 million over the three-day weekend.

Poltergeist rounded out the weekend’s top five with a four-day start of $26.34 million. The PG-13 rated horror remake from 20th Century Fox and MGM debuted in line with expectations and was off to a solid start with its modest price tag in mind. Poltergeist took in $22.62 million over the three-day frame.