“AVENGERS” BOX OFFICE: Ultron Huge But Perhaps Not Ultra

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There was wide speculation that AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON (Marvel/Disney) would outgross the opening weekend of the first Avengers, but in the US that may not be in the cards.  Ultron did beat Avengers on Friday, $84.5M vs $80.8M, but that win comes with an asterisk, because both include Friday night showings, and Ultron had 5 extra hours of run time (7PM to midnight) to fuel its $8.9M victory ($27.6M vs $18.7M).  Both Avengers still trail the opening day record of the final Harry Potter at $91.1M.  Sequels tend to burn out faster than originals (that Harry Potter being a prime example, having managed a “mere” $169.2M weekend after its record-breaking opening day), and some major sports events on Saturday night won’t help, so it’s not unlikely that we won’t know for sure whether Ultron has beaten Avengers’ all-time record $207.4M US weekend until final numbers are released on Monday.

Of course, this all amounts to counting angels on pins, because one way or another Ultron is a massive hit.  As of Friday, it had already earned $350M overseas (with China among the territories yet to come), and it will certainly be well over $600M worldwide by Sunday, with $1B+ seemingly an easy goal.  Still, with a nonstop cargo of action-fantasy summer blockbusters just beginning to be unveiled, it’s fair to wonder if genre fatigue may start to set in before August.