By LINDSEY BAHR
AP Film Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) — After breaking opening weekend records, “Avengers: Infinity War” continued to dominate in its second weekend in theaters, but alternative programming like the romantic comedy “Overboard” also found an audience in what has historically been considered the “official” kick-off to the summer movie season. The Walt Disney Co. said Sunday that “Avengers: Infinity War” will gross an estimated $112.5 million from North American theaters over the weekend, becoming the second highest grossing film in weekend two behind “Star Wars: The Force Awakens'” $149.2 million and just slightly ahead of “Black Panther”
($111.7 million).
It’s a 56 percent drop from its first weekend in theaters — less steep than the second weekend fall of “Avengers: Age of Ultron” (59.4 percent) or “Captain America: Civil War” (59.5 percent), but more than “Black Panther’s” uniquely soft 44.7 percent sophomore weekend decline.
“We’re in uncharted territory again,” said comScore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian. “This is a second weekend number that many films would aspire to have on opening weekend.”
Globally, “Avengers: Infinity War” has now grossed over $1.2 billion and become the first film ever to cross the $1 billion mark in 11 days of release, and it has yet to even open in China.
There was little new competition this weekend in the blockbuster space, although there were a handful of other options, like “Overboard,” which came in a very distant second to “Avengers,” but still made a notable splash for a film its size. MGM and Lionsgate’s Pantelion Films’ gender-swapped remake of Garry Marshall’s 1987 comedy, “Overboard” scored the highest-grossing opening weekend for Pantelion Films with a better-than-expected $14.8 million from 1,623 theaters. It’s already surpassed its modest mid-teens production budget. Pantelion Films CEO Paul Presburger and Jonathan Glickman, president of the Motion Picture Group at MGM, both attribute the success to the star-power of Eugenio Derbez (“Instructions Not Included,” ”How
to be a Latin Lover”) who helped developed the bilingual remake with an American star (Anna Faris) to appeal not just to his Hispanic fan base but all audiences.
The cast, including Derbez and Eva Longoria, helped promote the film on their social media accounts too. “It’s great to have a large base especially in the wake of ‘Avengers,'” Presburger said. “We have a movie out there that plays to families and all audiences that should have success into Mother’s Day and onwards.” Although critics were not especially won over by “Overboard,” audiences gave the film a more favorable A- CinemaScore. Third place went to “A Quiet Place,” which has grossed $159.9 million in five weeks in theaters, and fourth place to “I Feel Pretty,” now up to $37.8 million in weekend three. “Rampage” rounded out the top five with $4.6 million, bumping its domestic total to $84.8 million.
In sixth place, “Tully,” starring Charlize Theron, launched on 1,353 screens with $3.2 million. It’s the third collaboration between director Jason Reitman and screenwriter Diablo Cody, the team behind “Juno,” and their second with Theron, who also starred in their film “Young Adult.”
Hollywood’s summer movie season typically runs from the first weekend in May through Labor Day, but this year got a jump-start with the late April release of “Avengers: Infinity War.”
“This was not the strongest weekend ever in terms of the official kick-off of the summer season, but we could be looking at a record May ultimately,” Dergarabedian said, noting upcoming releases like “Deadpool 2” (May 18) and “Solo: A Star Wars Story” (May 25). “This weekend just shows how the strategy of release dates is changing how the box office plays out.”
