Disney's `Avengers' Tops Box Office After Passing $1 Billion

(Bloomberg) -- Walt Disney Co.’s “Avengers: Infinity War” won the box office for the second weekend in a row, outrunning other new movies and surpassing $1 billion in global ticket sales.

The first of a two-part installment from the Marvel Entertainment franchise, “Infinity War” garnered $114.8 million from theaters in the U.S. and Canada, ComScore Inc. estimated in an email Monday. Sales fell from the previous week by 56 percent while beating a forecast of $111 million by Box Office Pro. Three new wide releases, “Overboard,” “Tully” and “Bad Samaritan,” placed second, sixth and 11th, respectively.

The new “Avengers” installment beat “Black Panther” to rank only behind “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” for the biggest second weekend in theaters. As the fastest movie ever to cross $1 billion globally, the film continues to drive a rebound in the summer box office.

The superhero blockbuster has a relatively clear run until the release of 20th Century Fox’s “Deadpool 2” on May 18. Disney will probably reclaim the box-office lead at the end of the month when it releases “Solo: A Star Wars Story.”

The new “Avengers” movie has helped turned around the year’s box office fortunes, turning from negative territory to up 5.2 percent over the same period last year, according to ComScore. Through Sunday, it generated $1.16 billion worldwide, a rapid ascent, even before it opens in China on May 11.

Romantic comedy “Overboard,” via Lions Gate Entertainment’s Pantelion label and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, earned $14.7 million against a forecast of $15.2 million, according to Box Office Mojo. The poorly reviewed movie features Anna Faris as Kate, a working-class single mom hired to clean the yacht of a rich playboy played by Eugenio Derbez. After he loses his memory, she takes revenge by on him by pretending they are married and puts him to work as a cleaner. Only 30 percent of reviews were positive, according to aggregator RottenTomatoes.com.

Focus Features’ “Tully” is another film with a mother in the lead role. Charlize Theron plays Marlo, who has three children including a newborn, and she’s gifted a nanny called Tully. It opened to $3.28 million, versus a forecast of $3.9 million, according to Box Office Pro. It received 89 percent positive reviews, according to RottenTomatoes.com

Electric Entertainment’s “Bad Samaritan” earned $1.73 million, having been forecast to generate $1.9 million, according to Box Office Pro. The horror thriller features Robert Sheehan as a burglar who disturbs a kidnapping and faces the wrath of the kidnapper, played by David Tennant. Reviews were mixed, with 56 percent being positive, according to RottenTomatoes.com

To contact the reporter on this story: Anousha Sakoui in Los Angeles at asakoui@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net, Kara Wetzel

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.