The highest opening weekend of 2015 so far was the mid-January result tallied by American Sniper when it brought in $89.2 million in its wide expansion. Fifty Shades of Grey wasn’t too far behind with its $85.1 million. Last year it was the $121.8 million opening for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 that ended up the highest opening of the year followed by Transformers: Age of Extinction ($100m), Captain America: The Winter Soldier ($95m) and Guardians of the Galaxy ($94.3m), but 2015 looks as if it may have a juggernaut no one can compete with, Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Back in 2012, The Avengers opened to the tune of a record-breaking $207.4 million, more than $33 million more than second place held by Iron Man 3, but now Bloomberg is reporting the sequel is likely to top that figure once it arrives on May 1, predicting an opening around $217 million.
Of course, this isn’t much of a surprise. After all, if you adjust for inflation the Avengers opening comes out to $212 million, just five million shy of this new Bloomberg number. What might be more interesting to consider is to wonder if any other film in 2015 may hit that number.
Fast & Furious 6 opened to $97.3 million in 2013 and while Furious 7 is likely to improve on that figure it won’t be anywhere near the $200 million mark. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 can only improve so much on its predecessor’s number, but come December 18, I can’t be the only one to wonder just how much Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens is going to rake in, and remember, along with the Avengers money, that’s all going into Disney’s pocket.
Looking over the rest of the year I can’t imagine any other films having a similar impact. Can you? And just how high do you think Avengers: Age of Ultron can go?
