‘Ultron’s $191.3M Bow Spikes Weekend’s Total B.O. To 51% Over 2014 – Final Monday Update

UPDATE, Monday 4:15PM after 9:03 AM: With Top 20 Chart. Disney/Marvel’s Avengers: Age Of Ultron ended up with a better than anticipated $191.3M domestically, pushing its worldwide cume to an impressive $631.1M, according to the studio. That’s $3.6M better than had been anticipated yesterday. The Avengers franchise now holds the top two spots of biggest opening of all time at the domestic box office; Marvel pics the top three when counting Iron Man 3 ($174.1M bow).

The higher than expected bow for Ultron pushed the weekend’s total box office up to $232.6M, +51% from the same frame a year ago and +139% from last weekend. The 2015 B.O. is currently counting $3.485B, +5.9% over the same Jan-May frame in 2014.

Ultron wound up posting the weekend’s biggest per theater at $44,731. Worldwide Imax ticket sales for Ultron posted a record-setting $25.2M; its biggest non-China global weekend for a single film. As reported yesterday, Ultron earned $18M at 364 Imax sites for a $50K per-screen average. Imax locales repped eight of Ultron‘s top 10 domestic opening locations.

Fox Searchlight’s Far From the Madding Crowd slotted the second highest per theater average with $16,498 off 10 venues. This weekend Searchlight is adding 19 more markets as well as upping its theaters in current cities. Estimated theater count should be at 95 playdates. In third for PTAs: Magnolia’s Iris from the late doc director Albert Maysles about fashion icon Iris Apfel. Pic generated $9,542 per theater off six sites for a weekend of $57,254 and a running total of $68,800.

Next weekend, Ultron eases. The first Avengers two years ago had a great second weekend, falling only 50% for $103.05M. Warner Bros. has appropriately positioned Reese Witherspoon-Sofia Vergara femme road comedy Hot Pursuit in more than 2,700 engagements in hopes to lure moms out for Mother’s Day. IFC is also chugging its Jack Black-James Marsden comedy The D Train into an estimated 850 sites.

Below are the top 20 films per Rentrak Theatrical:

1). Avengers: Age of Ultron (DIS), 4,276 theaters / 3-day cume: $191.2M / Per screen average: $44,731 /Wk 1

2). Furious 7 (UNI), 3,305 theaters (-503)/ 3-day cume: $6.6M (-63%) / Per screen: $2,010 /Total cume: $331M/ Wk 5

3). The Age of Adaline (LGF), 2,991 theaters (0)/ 3-day cume: $6.2M (-53%) / Per screen: $2,074 /Total cume: $23.3M/ Wk 2

4). Paul Blart Mall: Cop 2 (SONY), 3,548 theaters (-85)/3-day cume: $5.8M (-60%)/ Per screen: $1,657/ Total cume: $51.5M / Wk 3

5). Home (FOX/DW), 2,852 theaters (-459) / 3-day cume: $3.4M (-57%)/ Per screen: $1,217/ Total cume: $158.3M / Wk 6

6). Cinderella (DIS), 1,411 theaters (-608)/ 3-day cume: $2.7M (-1%) / Per screen: $1,945 / Total Cume: $194M / Wk 8

7). Ex Machina (A24), 1,279 theaters (+24) / 3-day cume: $2.2M (-57%)/ Per screen: $1,787/ Total cume: $10.9M / Wk 4

8). Unfriended (UNI), 2,221 theaters (-554) / 3-day cume: $2.2M (-64%)/ Per screen: $995 / Total Cume: $28.7M/Wk 3

9). The Longest Ride (FOX), 2,115 theaters (-1,025) / 3-day cume: $1.7M (-60%) / Per screen: $806 /Total cume: $33.2M / Wk 4

10). Woman in Gold (TWC), 1,126 theaters (-855) / 3-day cume: $1.6M (-52%) / Per screen: $1,426 /Total cume: $24.5M / Wk 5

11). Monkey Kingdom (DIS), 1,732 theaters (-280)/ 3-day cume: $1.2M (-65%) / Per screen: $703 / Total Cume: $12.5M / Wk 3

12). Get Hard (WB), 1,465 theaters (-811) / 3-day cume: $1.1M (-68%) / Per screen: $812 /Total cume: $86.2M / Wk 6

13). Insurgent (LG), 1,291 theaters (-795) / 3-day cume: $914K (-70%) / Per screen: $708 / Total cume: $126.4M / Wk 7

14). Little Boy (OPRD), 1,045 theaters (0)/3-day cume: $878K (-68%) / Per screen: $841 / Total cume: $4.2M/ Wk 2

15). The Water Diviner (OPRD), 385 theaters (+65)/ 3-day cume: $663K (-46%) / Per screen: $1,721 / Total cume: $2.3M/ Wk 2

16). American Sniper (WB), 422 theaters (+19) / 3-day cume: $444K (+19%)/ Per screen: $1,052 / Total cume: $348.8M / Wk 19

17). While We’re Young (A24), 374 theaters (-388) / 3-day cume: $440K (-60%) / Per screen: $1,176/ Total cume: $6.4M / Wk 6

18). Gabbar Is Back (EROS), 107 theaters /3-day cume: $276K / Per screen: $2,583 /Wk 1

19). Clouds Of Sils Maria (IFC), 164 theaters (+95) / 3-day cume: $262K (+19%)/ Per screen: $1,596 / Total cume: $871K / Wk 4

20). Danny Collins (BST), 204 theaters (-192)/3-day cume: $219K (-50%) / Per screen: $1,073 / Total cume: $5.1M /Wk 7

Notables:

Far From the Madding Crowd (FSL), 10 theaters / 3-day cume: $165K / Per screen: $16,498 / Wk 1

Iris (MAG), 6 theaters (+4) / 3-day cume: $57K / Per screen: $9,542/ Total cume: $68.8K / Wk 1

Gerontophilia (SR), 1 theaters / 3-day cume: $1,927 / Wk 1

Marie’s Story (FM), 1 theaters / 3-day cume: $1,446 / Wk 1

Final Sunday Update after 8:28 AM post: If you think about it for a minute, The Avengers really did beat Ultron — at the box office, that is. Walt Disney Pictures is calling the opening weekend for Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron at $187.7M this morning, making it the second-highest opening weekend of all-time at the domestic B.O., behind 2012’s Avengers $207.4M.

Even more awesome: Disney Marvel films own the top three openings at the all-time domestic box office with Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron and Iron Man 3 ($174.1M bow).

“The idea that you have these three titles as the highest domestic openings in the last few years is indicative of how powerful the Marvel brand is and how successful their team is. They have set a high bar and continue to deliver more,” beamed Disney distribution chief Dave Hollis this morning.

In comparing the success of the first Avengers with Ultron, the latter clicked a significant amount of presales from fans versus the first title. This led to higher Thursday previews of $27.6M versus Avengers’ $18.7M. “There was a momentum for the brand and (fans’) urgency showed itself,” added Hollis. Ultron‘s Friday into Saturday slowed more than expected, sliding from $84.46M to about $58.5M, due to the abundance of sporting events including the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight, NBA playoffs and Kentucky Derby. This yielded 31% of Ultron’s Saturday B.O. being generated after 5PM, versus Avengers 37% two years ago. And despite that slide, it’s a pretty solid share considering yesterday’s external competition to Ultron.

Now the question is, how high can these superheros fly? Avengers turned around a 3x multiple of its bow for a final stateside cume of $623.4M — and that’s off an A+ CinemaScore which typically carries an average 4.8x multiple. Ultron earned an A, which typically translates into a 3.6x multiple, which would put the sequel well north of $650M using that B.O. yardstick.

Of those attending Ultron‘s first weekend, men turned up at 59%, females at 41% and the overall majority being over 25 at 59%.

Imax contributed $18M stateside at 364 hubs. For Imax, that’s the second-highest bow at the domestic B.O. after The The Dark Knight Rises. It also beats Iron Man 3‘s $15.6M first Imax weekend, which now ranks as third.

Premium large format grossed a record $13.5M at 400 sites. Cinemark XD led the way with he total PLF gross of $3.5 million. RealD 3D rang up $56M repping a third of Ultron‘s opening weekend.

Ultron has pushed 2015 to a 5.6% lead over last year (January through the first weekend of May) with $3.478B per Rentrak. Total ticket sales this weekend are at $225M, 46% ahead of the same frame last year and a whopping 131% spike over last weekend’s sleepy $97.5M.

While the entire industry and everyone foresaw this weekend as being a big one, Marvel didn’t take that for granted and assume that fanboys would just show up. Ultron‘s near-year marketing campaign kicked off at last year’s ComicCon when Marvel chief Kevin Feige announced the title and gathered the film’s headliners onstage along with Ultron himself (James Spader). They even showed a lengthy sequence from the film where Ultron makes his entrance. Ultron boasted a number of extensive promotional and retail partnerships with Gillette, Samsung, Target, Dr. Pepper, Kelloggs, Nesquik, Subway, Doritos, Walmart, LEGO, Hasbro, a first-ever takeover on Amazon and a slew of Audi commercials which ran during such hot shows as Saturday Night Live, The Americans and Mad Men.

The teaser and payoff trailers set records at the time for most views in 24 hours with 34.3M and 35M views respectively. The payoff trailer was unlocked via a global-first “Flock to Unlock” social drive across 65 markets on Twitter. The teaser trailer did leak early with Marvel’s blaming Hydra and subsequently releasing the official trailer. An exclusive 90-second spot debuted during the BCS Championship Game, which was the highest rated cable broadcast in history with 33.4M viewers. There were huge broadcast stunts with takeovers on Jimmy Kimmel Live! (Avengers assemble), Good Morning America (full cast in Times Square) and ESPN (Ultron breaks in plus first-ever full SportsCenter set integration), not to mention Chris Hemsworth’s appearance on Ellen who offered up a surprise trip for the entire audience to the world premiere. Oh, and Scarlett Johansson made her fifth guest-star appearance on Saturday Night Live last night in conjunction with the pic’s opening, and served up a hysterical NYC romantic comedy parody for her character Black Widow. As is standard with Disney on its big pics, there was a global publicity tour with stops in London, Seoul (where the film was shot) with full promotion across all Disney brands and subsids.

And in case you weren’t aware, there were other films playing at the box office this weekend, with Ultron twisting the competition’s arm, and forcing them to the ground: Versus last weekend, most pics in the top 10 dropped 55-68%. Universal’s Furious 7 in second took a 66% drop with $6.1M in its fifth frame. Lionsgate’s femme demo romance TheAge of Adaline took a 53% decline with $6.25M and a 10-day stateside total of $23.4M. A24’s arthouse crossover Ex Machina was down 58% at 1,279 with $2.23M, however crossed the $10M mark ($10.9M). Pic will go even wider this Friday as Ultron eases. Last weekend’s family WWII film from Open Road Films, Little Boy, dropped 71% with $792K and a 10-day running domestic take of $4.16M.

The most intriguing hold though amid Ultron‘s domination this weekend? Disney’s Cinderella only fell 15%. Why is that? The princess pic played as part of a special double feature with Ultron at a number of drive-in locations.

The top 10 studio-reported weekend estimates for May 1-3:

1). Avengers: Age of Ultron (DIS), 4,276 theaters / $84.4M Fri. /$57.2M Sat. (-32%) / $45.9M Sun. (-20%) / 3-day cume: $187.6M / Wk 1

2). Furious 7 (UNI), 3,305 theaters (-503) / $2.1M Fri. / $2.5M Sat. (+18%) / $1.3M Sun. (-46%) / 3-day cume: $6.1M (-66%) / Total cume: $330.5M/ Wk 5

3). The Age of Adaline (LGF), 2,991 theaters (0)/ $2.2M Fri. /$2.4M Sat. (+10%) / $1.5M Sun. (-35%) / 3-day cume: $6.2M (-53%) / Total cume: $23.4M/ Wk 2

4). Paul Blart Mall Cop 2 (SONY), 3,548 theaters (-85)/ $1.7M Fri. / $2.4M Sat. (+39%) / $1.2M Sun. (-48%) / 3-day cume: $5.5M (-63%)/ Total cume: $51.2M / Wk 3

5). Home (FOX/DW), 2,852 theaters (-459) / $880K Fri. /$1.5M Sat. (+78%) / $850K Sun. (-46%) / 3-day cume: $3.3M (-59%)/ Total cume: $158.1M / Wk 6

6). Cinderella (DIS), 1,411 theaters (-608)/ $812K Fri. / $1.1M Sat. (+41%) / $401K Sun. (-65%) / 3-day cume: $2.3M (-15%) /Total Cume: $193.6M / Wk 8

7). Ex Machina (A24), 1,279 theaters (+24) / $723K Fri. /$849K Sat. (+17%) / $637K Sun. (-25%) / 3-day cume: $2.2M (-58%)/ Total cume: $10.8M / Wk 4

8). Unfriended (UNI), 2,221 theaters (-554) / $788K Fri. /$811K Sat. (+3%) / $389K Sun. (-52%) / 3-day cume: $1.9M (-68%)/ Total Cume: $28.5M/Wk 3

9). The Longest Ride (FOX), 2,115 theaters (-1,025) / $610K Fri. / $714K Sat. (+17%) / $376K Sun. (-47%) / 3-day cume: $1.7M (-60%) / Total cume: $33.2M / Wk 4

10). Woman in Gold (TWC), 1,126 theaters (-855) / $479K Fri. / $707K Sat. (+48%) / $495K Sun. (-30%) / 3-day cume: $1.6M (-50%) / Total cume: $24.5M / Wk 5

Notables:
Little Boy (OPRD), 1,045 theaters (0)/ $253K Fri. /308K Sat. (+22%) / $231K Sun. (-25%) / 3-day cume: $792K (-71%) / Total cume: $4.1M/ Wk 2

The Water Diviner (WB), 385 theaters (+65)/ $217K Fri. /260K Sat. (+20%) / $182K Sun. (-30%) / 3-day cume: $659K (-46%) / Total cume: $2.3M/ Wk 2

Uttama Villain (Tami) (PMP), 110 theaters / $169K Fri. /183K Sat. (+8%) / $137K Sun. (-25%) / 3-day cume: $489K / Wk 1

Gabbar Is Back (EROS), 107 theaters / $79K Fri. / $108K Sat. (+37%) / $76K Sun. (-30%) /3-day cume: $173K / Wk 1

Far From the Madding Crowd (FSL), 10 theaters / $54K Fri. /$68K Sat. (+26%) / $50K Sun. (-26%) 3-day PSA: $17K / 3-day cume: $172K / Wk 1

Iris (MAG), 6 theaters / $17K Fri. / $24K Sat. (+42%) / $17K Sun. (-30%) / 3-day cume: $59K / Wk 1

Welcome to Me (ALCH), 2 theaters / $13K Fri. / $14K Sat. (+9%) / $12K Sun. (-15%) /3-day PSA: $19K / 3-day cume: $38K / Wk 1

Previous Saturday, 11:09PM: The masses are spending their excess income elsewhere tonight, specifically $90-$100 per subscription to watch the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight, which is already on course to net $400M in PPV revenue. Many across the U.S. are watching the boxing match

at parties. What this means for Avengers: Age of Ultron is a lower than expected Saturday of $59M per industry estimates, a 30% decline from yesterday’s $84.46M. The first Avengers saw a Saturday dip of 14% back on May 5, 2012. Ultron‘s Sunday, per industry calculations, is looking at $47M, down 20% from Saturday (Avengers’ first Sunday took in $57.1M, down 18% from Saturday). Ultron is now tracking for a three-day opening in the neighborhood of $189M-$191M. While that’s lower than the first chapter’s all-time record domestic bow of $207.4M, it’s still the second highest opening of all-time at the domestic B.O.; just mind-blowing business.

Non-Imax premium large format screens are looking at a three-day record of $14M-$15M, besting Furious 7‘s record $11.8M bow in those venues during the first weekend of April. On Friday, 400 PLF screens pulled in $5.9M, repping 7.3% of the gross. Cinemark XD led the way accounting for 23.7% of the total PLF gross or $1.4M. Together, all large format screens grossed over $13.7M so far on Ultron which projects to an astonishing $35M for FSS. Cinemark chief Timothy Warner told Deadline today, “Avengers: Age of Ultron is playing big in our XD Extreme Digital and 3D because the audience wants to see it in a big screen PLF format or 3D.”

Previous Update 8AM after 3:30 AM post: Walt Disney is calling Avengers: Age of Ultron‘s first day at $84.46M, which is right in line where industry estimates were last night at $85M. That puts Ultron right behind Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2‘s first day of $91.07M and above the first Avengers which bowed to $80.8M. All these opening figures are propped by Thursday night previews. Ultron made $27.6M at its Thursday showtimes, besting the first Avengers preview night which made $18.7M.

Yesterday afternoon there were some wild industry estimates out there for the first day and weekend. That’s because when a film like this is in the upper atmosphere of tracking and matinees, the projection needle goes crazy. Fueling those high figures was the fact that exhibs were adding showtimes rapidly following Avengers: Age of Ultron‘s sold-out time slots; not to mention there was an outlook for heavy late night traffic. Theaters are playing the Joss Whedon film non-stop. At the Hollywood Arclight and New York City’s Regal E-Walk, there’s 43 now 52 showtimes today when you can catch the superhero sequel. AMC Burbank and Universal City Citywalk are respectively showing Ultron 35 and 32 times today with the NorthPark in Dallas, Texas boasting 29 showtimes in order to meet moviegoers’ demands.

Ultron had more showtimes than its first chapter since it kicked off earlier at 7PM vs. midnight (in the wake of the Aurora, Colorado shootings, exhibs no longer launch films at midnight). Current FSS bow for Ultron is $202.6M per industry calculations, and that’s incorporating a ding from not only the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight, but the NBA playoffs and Kentucky Derby too. That weekend B.O. return would put Ultron second to Avengers’ bow in the all-time B.O. annals; still pretty damn awesome.

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In the past with some of these big fanboy film openings, there was always concern that the simultaneous release of a popular videogame franchise title would eat into a pic’s business, however, it’s been shown that films and big videogame releases complement each other, read Thor: The Dark World posted a bow of $85.7M which was higher than its first chapter ($65.7M) and wedged between its first and second frames was the $500M single day release of Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. But the anticipation is that the sporting events today could very well steal guys away from Ultron starting at 9PM ET/6PM PT. While Avengers dipped 14% from Friday into Saturday, some industry estimates are seeing 20% or greater for Ultron.

Still there’s nothing to cry about: Ultron has jumpstarted summer (heck its opening this weekend alone will be 121% above The Amazing Spider-Man 2’s first FSS a year ago of $91.6M). And with an A CinemaScore, the Marvel superhero team sequel is going to play on and on. The first Avengers earned an A+ and finaled at $623.4M stateside, 3X its opening weekend.

While large format and 3D are providing some extra Red Bull to Ultron‘s ticket sales this weekend, the motion-seat 4DX format is another catalyst. It’s a new exhib technology that was wowing during CinemaCon. 4DX is reporting an average of 85% occupancy rates for its Ultron showtimes in the U.S. Furious 7, which is looking at an estimated fifth frame of $7.7M stateside, played in 4DX around the world and recently passed 1M admissions.

In its second frame, Lionsgate’s The Age of Adaline is looking at a 46% decline per industry estimates with $7.2M and a 10-day cume by Sunday of $24.3M. Arthouse crossovers Ex Machina from A24 is on course for $2.3M this weekend, down 57% with a cume by Sunday of $10.8M. A24 plans to add even more screens next weekend after Ultron leaves some breathing room in the market. Weinstein Co.’s Woman in Gold in its fifth sesh continues to hook adults with an anticipated stateside cume of $24.6M by Sunday.

Fox Searchlight’s Far From the Madding Crowd, which earned a wonderful 81% fresh Rotten Tomatoes score, is projected to make $191K at 10 hubs for a $19K per theater. Film stars recent Tony best actress nominee Carey Mulligan as a prosperous woman whose heart is torn among three suitors. Pic is based on the Thomas Hardy novel. British period films have traditionally served as solid counter-programming to summer blockbusters with platform releases such as Miramax’s Emma and Sony Classics’ Howards End racking up $22M and $25M respectively.

Below are the top 10 films per late Friday industry estimates as crunched by Deadline’s Amanda N’Duka:

1). Avengers: Age of Ultron (DIS), 4,276 theaters / $85M* Fri. / 3-day cume: $202.6M / Wk 1
*includes Thursday preview B.O. of $27.6M.

2). Furious 7 (UNI), 3,305 theaters (-503) / $2M Fri. (-57%) / 3-day cume: $7.7M (-57%) / Total cume: $331.9M/ Wk 5

3). The Age of Adaline (LGF), 2,991 theaters (0)/ $2.3M Fri. (-52%)/ 3-day cume: $7.2M (-46%) / Total cume: $24.3M/ Wk 2

4). Paul Blart Mall Cop 2 (SONY), 3,548 theaters (-85)/ $1.7M Fri. (-54%)/ 3-day cume: $6.8M (-54%)/ Total cume: $52.6M / Wk 3

5). Home (FOX/DW), 2,852 theaters (-459) / $945K Fri. (-49%) / 3-day cume: $4M (-49%)/ Total cume: $158.9M / Wk 6

6). Unfriended (UNI), 2,221 theaters (-554) / $770K Fri. (-62%)/ 3-day cume: $2.32M (-62%)/ Total Cume: $28.8M/Wk 3

7). Ex Machina (A24), 1,279 theaters (+24) / $735K Fri. (-57%) / 3-day cume: $2.31M (57%)/ Total cume: $10.8M / Wk 4

8). The Longest Ride (FOX), 2,115 theaters (-1,025) / $564K Fri. (-60%)/ 3-day cume: $1.74M (-59%) / Total cume: $33.2M / Wk 4

9). Woman in Gold (TWC), 1,126 theaters (-855) / $479K Fri. (-48%) / 3-day cume: $1.7M (-49%) / Total cume: $24.6M / Wk 5

10). Get Hard (WB), 1,465 theaters (-811) / $381K Fri. (-64%) / 3-day cume: $1.3M (-64%) / Total cume: $86.3M / Wk 6

Notables:

Uttama Villain (Tami) (PMP), 125 theaters / $180K Fri. / 3-day cume: $551K / Wk 1

Gabbar Is Back (EROS), 107 theaters / $66K Fri. / 3-day cume: $209K / Wk 1

Far From the Madding Crowd (FSL), 10 theaters / $55K Fri. /3-day PSA: $19K / 3-day cume: $191K / Wk 1

Welcome to Me (ALCH), 2 theaters / $13K Fri. /3-day PSA: $20K / 3-day cume: $40K / Wk 1

Previous, 4:50PM: Deadline has received a new updated set of industry estimates showing Disney/Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron clocking toward the highest opening single day of all-time with $94M-$97M, blowing away previous champ 2011’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II which made $91.07M. That figure includes the $27.6M from Thursday night shows. Opening FSS for Ultron still speeding toward an all-time bow. We’re hearing as high as $217M-$220M. We’re also hearing that the pre-sales are bigger than anything that Marvel’s ever had. It’s different from Avengers two years ago because that film benefited from walk-up business.

Measuring Ultron’s social media superpowers: RelishMix reports that Avengers social media universe is at 724M ranking as the third most social franchise sitting behind Fast and Furious and The Hunger Games. That breaks down as 492M YouTube Views, 176M Facebook fans and 31M Twitter Followers and subscribers. YouTube videos are being reposted at a rate of 28 to 1 (keep in mind the average is 9 to 1).

Hottest on Facebook is Robert Downey Jr with 24M FB fans as he’s posting native social Facebook videos on his FB page with 7M views in the last 3 weeks.

Chris Hemsworth with 3.8M FB is the second strongest social team player while Samuel L. Jackson has the largest Twitter reach with 4.8M followers. Downey Jr. has 4.36M.

Previous, 1:22 PM: Industry box office estimates see Disney/Marvel’s Avengers: Age Of Ultron on track for an $87M opening Friday at

the domestic B.O. in 4,275 theaters, inclusive of yesterday’s $27.6M receipts. That would make Ultron the second-highest opening day of all time behind Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part II, which made $91.07M on its first Friday (on its way to a $169.2M weekend). An $87M first Friday for Ultron also pegs it ahead of the first Avengers movie which made $80.8M. The industry estimate for Ultron‘s opening weekend is currently $213M, which of course would make it an all-time stateside record, beating Avengers’ $207.4M. Aggressive estimates see $215M-$220M. Again, these figures become harder as cash drawers close out into the evening.

After Ultron, the spread is pretty wide until we hit No. 2, where insiders see Furious 7 chalking up $8.4M for FSS at 3,305 theaters, repping a fifth-frame slide of 53% and a running stateside cume by Sunday of $332M.

Sony’s Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 is estimated to take $7.1M at 3,548 locales, down 52% in its third session for a running cume by Sunday of $52.8M.

Lionsgate’s Blake Lively period romance Age Of Adaline is currently projected at $6.8M at 2,991 venues, down 48% for a 10-day cume of $23.97M.

Fox’s release of DreamWorks Animation’s Home should slot fifth with $4M for FSS, down 50% at 2,852 for a running cume in its sixth week of $158.8M.

PREVIOUS, 7:35 PM: Global haul hits $314.9M after $27.6M Thurday stateside preview.

Disney/Marvel’s Avengers: Age Of Ultron made $27.6M at Thursday night 7 PM shows, easily outstripping the $18.7M made by Avengers during its late night previews in May 2012. That figure is the sixth-highest on the list of all-time domestic previews with Warner Bros.’ Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 topping it with $43.5M. That film kicked off at midnight previews in July 2011 before posting $91.07M, the highest opening day stateside of all-time. Earlier this month, Furious 7 made $15.8M on its Thursday night kickoff from 7 PM showtimes.

Imax screens recorded a $3M Thursday night record for Age Of Ultron, kicking the $2.3M made by previous record holder Dark Night Rises. Age Of Ultron‘s crowd last night was comprised of 60% men and 40% women, skewing younger with over/under 25 respectively at 45% / 55%. First night premium formats repped 44% of the business (24% 3D, 12% IMAX, 8% PLF).

International for Age Of Ultron is already at $287.3M. Mexico bowed yesterday with $6.8M, the largest opening day in industry history. Age Of Ultron‘s Thursday abroad grossed $31.9M with Korea ($2.6M) and UK ($2M) being the top grossing territories yesterday. Top countries in terms of cumes are Korea ($37.2M), UK ($35.9M), Russia ($20.8M), Brazil ($19.7M), France ($17.6M), Oz ($17.2M), Germany ($13M), India ($11.7M), Italy ($11.6M) and Taiwan ($10.8M).

The Thursday B.O. for Age Of Ultron is wrapped into today’s ticket sales. Confidence remains high in the industry that Avengers: Age Of Ultron is flying toward a domestic opening record this weekend, set to surpass the first installment’s take of $207.4M which was made in May 2012. Imax, premium large format and 4D will be providing extra superpowers to the superhero team pic this weekend. Should Age of Ultron fall short of its all-time record, some think it could be because of the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao Saturday night fight which kicks off at 9 PM EST/6 PM PST, which could steal guys away, however, the tendency with fanboy pics is that they’re always front-loaded. Avengers highest grossing day was on its first Friday, with $80.8M followed by a $69.6M Saturday (-14%) and a $57.1M Sunday (-18%).

The traditional irony with the first weekend in May — which has been dominated by a Marvel superhero title 10 times since 2002 when Spider-Man opened the floodgates with a $114.8M bow — is the huge amount of money the frame generates with so few kids out of school. Per Rentrak Theatrical there’s only 2.5% public schools out today.

Commenting on this, Rentrak Senior Media Analyst Paul Dergarbedian points out, “Since so many kids are still in school in early May it would seem almost counter intuitive that the first weekend in May has become one of the most coveted dates on the calendar. However, studios smartly realized that it’s the movies that define the viability of the release date and not the other way around. One need only look at the recent record breaking successes in the months of March and April to see that there is no limitation on which release corridors can and do spawn massive box office numbers.”

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