‘Avengers’ muscles rivals aside to continue box office dominance
LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — “Avengers: Infinity War” flexed its considerable muscle anew this weekend in North American theatres, pulling in a robust US$114.8 million and leaving other top films in its dust, according to figures released on Monday.
The three-day take by the Marvel superhero epic gave it the second-highest second weekend of all time, behind only “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” Only five movies have hit the US$100 million mark in their second weekends.
“Avengers” sees a veritable army of superheroes — including Dr Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Ironman (Robert Downey Jr) and Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) — joining forces to save the universe from powerful purple alien Thanos (Josh Brolin).
Globally, “Avengers” has hit the US$1 billion mark in just 11 days — the fastest ever — and it has yet to open in China.
But with its enormous success, “Avengers” has left little oxygen for its competitors. The second-highest North American grosser, new rom-com “Overboard,” trailed in its distant wake at just US$14.7 million. Anna Faris and Eugenio Derbez star in the Lionsgate remake of a 1987 movie about a struggling single mother who persuades a rich playboy with amnesia that they are married.
In third spot was Paramount’s sci-fi horror film “A Quiet Place,” at US$7.8 million. The near-wordless production stars actor-director John Krasinski and his real-life wife Emily Blunt as a couple silently struggling to protect their family from blind aliens that track their prey by sound.
STX comedy “I Feel Pretty,” starring Amy Schumer as a self-conscious woman, who suffers a head injury and then sees herself as ravishingly beautiful, was fourth at US$5.1 million.
And in fifth was “Rampage,” from Warner Bros., at US$4.6 million. The film follows Dwayne Johnson as a primatologist who befriends an albino gorilla, which grows to enormous size after a rogue experiment before teaming up with Johnson against invading monsters.
Rounding out the top 10 were:
“Tully” (US$3.28 million)
“Black Panther” (US$3.25 million)
“Truth or Dare” (US$1.89 million)
“Super Troopers 2” (US$1.87 million)
“Bad Samaritan” (US$1.76 million)