Brad Bird’s Tomorrowland takes over the top spot at the box office this Memorial Day weekend with a disappointing $32.2 million debut, pushing Pitch Perfect 2 to second place.
Costing $280 million to produce, the PG-rated science-fiction adventure is expected to pull in $40.7 million for the four-day period, less than the $50 million haul analysts initially expected. Tomorrowland stars George Clooney as an inventor who takes along a spirited teen (Britt Robertson) to an alternate world called Tomorrowland. Audience members, who were 51 percent male, 61 percent of adults 30 percent families, gave the film a B CinemaScore, while critics gave it a disappointing 49 percent “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
“It is what it is, but we’re not too disappointed just yet,” said Dave Hollis, Disney’s executive vice president for theatrical distribution. “In a summer of sequels, we hold out a lot of hope that wildly underserved families will find Tomorrowland and enjoy its originality.”
Pitch Perfect 2, which stars Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Brittany Snow and Skylar Astin reprising their roles, as well as newcomer Hailee Steinfeld, fell to second place with $30.3 million in its sophomore weekend. Thus far, the musical comedy has accumulated a domestic total of $125.4 million.
Warner Bros.’ Mad Max: Fury Road finished in third place, adding $23.8 million in its sophomore weekend, and pushing its domestic total to $87.3 million. The R-rated action film, directed by George Miller, is the first movie in the franchise in 30 years, and stars Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron.
The weekend’s other wide release was Fox’s Poltergeist in fourth place with $23 million from 3,240 locations over the three days, and likely to finish with $27.7 million for its first four days. Costing $35 million to produce, the horror remake of the 1982 cult classic stars Sam Rockwell, Rosemarie DeWitt, Jared Harris and Jane Adams. Audience members gave it a C plus CinemaScore, while critics gave it a 34 percent “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Rounding out the top five at the box office is Avengers: Age of Ultron with $20.9 million, pushing its stateside haul to $404.1 million.
“All it takes is one big movie to power a Memorial Day weekend, and we didn’t have that,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Rentrak.
Top 10 Films at Weekend Box Office: May 22-24
- Tomorrowland — $32.2 million
- Pitch Perfect 2 — $30.3 million
- Mad Max: Fury Road — $23.9 million
- Poltergeist — $23.0 million
- Avengers: Age of Ultron — $20.9 million
- Hot Pursuit – $3.5 million
- Far From The Madding Crowd — $2.9 million
- Furious 7 — $2.1 million
- Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 — $1.8 million
- Home — $1.7 million
