This was supposed to be Fury Road’s weekend, with the iconic character of Mad Max now inherited by Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron in the role of the bald headed scary, and scarred, Imperator Furiosa. And things were pretty good for George Miller’s return, after 30 years, to its post-apocalyptic landscapes. Helped by a big splash in Cannes and by excellent reviews, Mad Max: Fury Road opened in 68 territories, where it generated $109 million. It was number one in France, Korea, Australia, Thailand, Indonesia, the UAE, Russia, Brazil, Spain, Italy and in all Scandinavian markets.
46% of its viewers were under 25, meaning that it managed to appeal also to a new generation. And even if it cost anywhere between $150 and 200 million, it got great reviews for an action movie, which bodes well for the upcoming weeks. But in the U.S. it stopped at “just” $44.4 million and it was outmaneuvered by Pitch Perfect 2, which ended its first weekend just a tad above $70 million. The musical comedy starring Anna Kendrick and Rebel Wilson and with Hailee Steinfeld now joining the Bellas grossed, in just three days, more money than the lifetime gross of the original, which was $65 million. It’s the highest opening musical in history, beating High School Musical 3, which had a $42 million debut, and is in line to possibly out-gross giants such as Grease and Chicago. It adds to the lucky streak of Universal, that invested below $40 million into the picture and that is still counting the money generated so far this year by 50 Shades of Grey and by Furious 7, that keeps beating records. It completely dominated the female audience: 75% of its moviegoers (as opposed to Fury’s 60% male), 62% of them under 25. Finally, there is one more person who has good reasons to celebrate: Elisabeth Banks, who directed the film and who had a second film out this weekend, Every Secret Thing, directed by Amy Berg and starring Dakota Fanning and Diane Lane. Pitch is the first film Banks directed and is now the highest opening ever for a first time director. Overseas, even if it was out-grossed by George Miller’s Fury Road, Pitch did not fare so bad either: 29 markets produced $38 million, for a total of $108 million which is very close to the cumulative of $115 million generated by the original musical. Pitch Perfect 2 had its debut in 27 territories, gaining the number one spot in the UK, in Germany, in Austria, in the Netherlands and then in Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and South Africa.
 
With Pitch and Fury Road dominating the weekend, Avengers: Age of Ultron held its own on its second week in the U.S. and the third in most other countries. In the U.S., it was another $39 million, with a total in the range of $372 million. In other territories, Ultron added $185 million, fueled by China where it managed to cash $156 million in its first six days of release. The foreign total now stands at $770 million, the global at $1.150 billion, enough for the title, so far, of eight highest grossing film of all times.
 
With these three giants in competition and covering all demographics, everything else was pretty much run over. Starring Sofia Vergara and Reese Witherspoon, number 4 in the domestic market was Hot Pursuit, that dropped 59% and got $5.7 million. Number 5 was Furious 7, a phenomenon that in its seventh week of release still managed to gather $3.6 million. Number 6 was Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, with $3.6 million (and a total of $63 million), followed by The Age of Adaline with $3.2 million (and a total of $32 million), Home with $2.7 million (and $165 million total), Ex Machina with just above $2 million (and a total of close to $20 million); and finally, at number ten, Far From The Madding Crowd, with $1.3 million (and a total of $2.6 million).
 
If we consider the top ten movies, six of them are geared to women or have women as protagonists. In the next few weeks, there will be several female-driven films hitting the markets, such as Spy starring Melissa McCarthy; Trainwreck, written by Amy Schumer who is also starring; Ricki and The Flash, with Meryl Streep as an aging rock star. Following huge hits such as Fifty Shades, Unbroken and Hunger Games, there is reason to hope that Hollywood may finally come to the realization that women also happen to enjoy movies. And if offered the chance to see themselves and their experience represented in the large screen, they will come.
 
 Lorenzo Soria