‘Pitch Perfect 2’ Sings, Soars Down Under; ‘Ultron’ Adds $67.3M – Intl B.O. Final

3rd and 4th UPDATE, 11:11 AM and 2:25 PM PT: Disney/Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron ended the weekend with a $67.8M weekend haul to bring its total international gross up to $562M and its worldwide haul to $$875.4M prior to its bow on the 12th in China. Overall, the action hero cluster flick has been running about 20% over the first Avengers, which bowed in 2012. The early opener Pitch Perfect 2 debuted in Australia or New Zealand to gross $9.19M ahead of its domestic bow next weekend.

Meanwhile, Warner Bros.’ Hot Pursuit came in slightly higher than expected from yesterday with $1.7M. All three movies’ estimates are updated to final grosses below. Thirteen more titles have been updated or added, including Fast & Furious 7 which now has an international total of $1.1B. Still awaiting word on one more title — Chappie as China has yet to report. So, more to come.

2ND UPDATE, 4:46 PM PT: This frame was down about 52% on the Top 10 studio titles internationally. The drop is unsurprising this session given the May Day holiday last week in many markets which helped boost grosses. Still, nothing to sniff at, Avengers: Age Of Ultron, in its 3rd frame, took slightly less than anticipated on Sunday, $67.8M (instead of the est. $68.3M) just as its 2nd North American was underway. Ultron is on the brink of bowing in China which will make a huge difference in its ultimate numbers. The figure to beat in the Middle Kingdom is now F7’s $388M – the biggest score of all time.

While Ultron is assured a big China bow, there’s another player coming to about 70 markets next week outside the Middle Kingdom in the form of Mad Max: Fury Road. The George Miller reboot of the post-apocalyptic actioner also notably has a showcase at the Cannes Film Festival where it will screen on Thursday. We’ll be reporting from the scene…

1ST UPDATE, WRITETHRU, 11 AM PT: International weekend finals are now in from the studios with Avengers: Age Of Ultron‘s offshore box office hitting $562M after a $67.8M frame. As the film’s China release looms on May 12, it is holding firm as the No. 1 movie in many overseas territories. But Down Under, the Marvel superheroes faced off with the Barden Bellas this weekend as Pitch Perfect 2 bowed in the top spot in both Australia and New Zealand. Elsewhere, Warner Bros’ Hot Pursuit set off in some smaller markets and Sony’s Chappie hit China for a lesser than expected $9.19M start (down from Sunday estimates of $9.7M).

In an early rollout, Universal sequel Pitch Perfect 2 is singing a happy tune Down Under where it has a weekend final of $7.9M (of significantly from its Sunday estimate of $8.8M). Australia was the top overseas market for 2012’s Pitch Perfect with the a cappella-themed comedy earning more than $13M there. Pitch Pefect 2 is currently outpacing it by about 300%. In Oz, the $7.9M weekend is still the 4th biggest debut frame of 2015, behind blockbusters Ultron, Furious 7 and Fifty Shades Of Grey. It has 60% market share. In NZ, the starter session was worth an estimated $1.2M, good for the 3rd biggest opening weekend of the year behind F7 and Ultron. North America opens next weekend along with 27 international territories including the UK, Germany, Russia and Philippines.

In other new openers, female buddy comedy Hot Pursuit bowed in 21 smaller international markets for Warner Bros. The total was $1.7M from 700 screens. Reese Witherspoon and Sofia Vergara ranked No. 2 in the UAE, with $434K from 36 screens. That outdid such comps as The Other Woman, Identity Thief and The Heat. Taiwan grossed a good $155K from 69 screens, ranking No. 4. Singapore opened to $116K from 26 screens for a No. 5 bow. There are key international markets to come throughout June and July.

As for Ultron, this is the 3rd offshore frame for the Disney/Marvel mash-up which was boosted by the May Day holiday overseas. With $562M from offshore markets thus far, it’s tracking 20% higher than The Avengers in local currency at the same point in release. Last week, Ultron became the 3rd Marvel Cinematic Universe title to cross $500M abroad. The global cume is now $875.4M.

Ultron is now playing in 90 territories, about 72% of its international footprint. China is up on May 12 and Japan follows on July 4. Hungary and Poland were new this frame. The top offshore play is still Korea with $74M to date, followed by the UK at $61.3M and Mexico with $38.8M. Rounding out the Top 5 are Brazil ($37.2M) and Russia ($30.4M).

Furious 7 keeps filling the tank with a weekend estimate of a slightly better than expected $20.2M (up from the $19.6M estimate) in 67 territories for a total of $1.29B. Combined with the U.S. tally, the worldwide total is $1.468B. Notably this frame, F7 crossed $200M in Latin America, the first time Universal has reached the milestone and the second time in history after The Avengers. F7 cuts its engines in the Middle Kingdom this frame as Ultron lands, but not before becoming known as the highest-grossing film of all time in China. The 5th weekend estimate there is better than expected $9.1M gross (up from $8.4M) for a total of $388.7M. The film remains the third highest grossing film of all time internationally, only behind filmmaker Jim Cameron’s Avatar ($2.8B) and Titanic ($1.5B).

Neill Blomkamp’s Chappie grossed an estimated $9.8M on 4,500 screens in 11 territories this weekend, bringing the overseas cume to $63.2M. China was the biggest portion of the weekend with an estimated $9.7M to take it above Furious 7’s 5th Middle Kingdom frame. The Chappie opening was in the same range as the helmer’s Elysium. Japan opens May 23.

DreamWorks Animation’s Home saw a $6.3M weekend on 8,848 screens in 59 markets. Notably, France ($6.39M cume) and the UK ($33.8M) held well and China added $2.99M for a $25.5M total to date. The international cume is now $180.3M. Fox still has Venezuela and Korea to release.

Disney’s Cinderella waltzed past the $500M global mark last week and added another $4M internationally this frame. It’s been the No. 1 Western release in Japan for three straight weeks now and has a cume there of $28.3M. In its 9th weekend of release, it has a $316.9M offshore total and a $513.5M worldwide take.

Unfriended found a lesser than estimated $2.9M (down from $3.2M) worth of pals in 11 territories for an early international cume of $8.6M (instead of the reported $9M yesterday). Korea was a No. 3 opening with $1M and in the UK, the Universal title held at No. 4 with slightly less as well — $1M ($1.2M was predicted) for a 10-day take of $4.2M. International dates roll out over the next few months.

Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 packed in another $2.8M on 2,466 screens in 50 territories to take the overseas cume to $28.7M. Malaysia ($237K on 75 screens), Singapore ($143K on 22 runs) and the Philippines ($144K in 106 locales) all saw good bows and all were in the No. 3 spot in their territory. Venezuela continues to hold extremely well, down 27% in its 4th frame, grossing an estimated $394K with a cume of under $3M. Germany has now cumed $4.69M; Mexico is at $5.2M and Australia boasts $2.47M.

Audiences ponied up a further $2.26M (a bit less than estimated) for Fox’s The Longest Ride. Playing in 28 markets, the Nicholas Sparks adaptation added Spain ($372K) and Belgium ($218K) this frame. Germany held well, jumping up to No. 2 this week with $907K for a cume of $2.9M after two turns at the rodeo. The early international cume is $15M with Italy and the UK the next major markets to release in June.

Fox’s Japanese hit Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection Of F (released locally by Toei) earned another $1M from 550 screens in the 4th frame for a cume of $27.4M  ($28.3M had been estimated).

Thomas Vinterberg’s Far From The Madding Crowd tilled $1.4M from four overseas markets for a total to date of $6M. The UK and Denmark saw a strong hold, taking its cumes to $5.36M, respectively with the vast majority of the international marketplace still to come for the Fox Searchlight title.

Liam Neeson-starrer Run All Night chased a final $1.5M from 1,925 screens in 46 markets for an overseas haul of $40.5M to date. Warner Bros bows the film in Japan next weekend on May 16. The top three markets for the actioner are Mexico ($3.6M), the UK ($3.2M) and France ($3.1M).

Also from Searchlight, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel registered another $908K from 1,343 screens in 20 markets. There were strong openings across Latin America — many of which were over two times the level of the original — to bring the international tally to $51.1M.

Ex Machina, the A24 release in the states which is consistently stepping up the box office ladder based on positive word-of-mouth, is being handled by Universal Pictures internationally. The Alex Garland sci-fi favorite opened in limited release in Australia over the weekend to gross $111K from 7 screens in the market. There are two more releases planned for this title, in France (June 3) and in Italy (June 30).

The horror film Oujia is still playing itself out in five territories, including France where it is the top holdover with $384K at 164 runs, giving it a 12-day total of $1.5M. Its international total at what is the end of its rollout is $51.67M.

Russell Crowe’s historical fiction film The Water Diviner which chronicles an Australian farmer’s search for his son after the war, opened in limited release in Germany where it grossed $121k IN 148 runs. It also opened in Sweden in limited release on 79 dates for a $64K gross.

Other limited runs included The Pyramid, which opened in France to garner $663K in 160 locales. The horror film has a running total to date of $12.6M.

And lastly, the actioner Spooks: The Greater Good — which is a feature based on a long-running BBC Television series — opened to a decent $1.47M on 419 screens.