LOS ANGELES — 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" kickoff to the summer movie season.
Walt Disney Co. said Sunday that "Avengers: Infinity War" would 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's fall of "Avengers: Age of Ultron" (59.4 percent) and "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 Paul Dergarabedian, a senior media analyst for comScore. "This is a second-weekend number that many films would aspire to have on opening weekend."
Worldwide, "Avengers: Infinity War" has now grossed more than $1.2 billion, becoming the first film ever to cross the $1 billion mark in 11 days of release — and it has yet to open in China.
There was little new competition in the blockbuster space, although there were a handful of other options, like "Overboard," which came in a very distant second but still made a notable splash for a film its size.
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A 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 has already surpassed its modest mid-teens production budget.
Pantelion Films Chief Executive Paul Presburger and Jonathan Glickman, president of the Motion Picture Group at MGM, both attributed 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 a U.S. star (Anna Faris) to appeal not just to his Hispanic fan base but to 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 weren't especially won over by "Overboard," audiences gave the film a more favorable A- CinemaScore.
Hollywood's summer movie season typically runs from the first weekend of May through Labor Day, but this year it 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 kickoff of the summer season, but we could be looking at a record May ultimately," Dergarabedian said, noting coming releases like "Deadpool 2" (May 18) and "Solo: A Star Wars Story" (May 25).
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to comScore. Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
- "Avengers: Infinity War," $112.5 million ($162.6 million international)
- "Overboard," $14.8 million
- "A Quiet Place," $7.6 million ($4.1 million international)
- "I Feel Pretty," $4.9 million ($3.2 million international)
- "Rampage," $4.6 million ($13.7 million international)
- "Tully," $3.2 million ($200,000 international)
- "Black Panther," $3.1 million ($390,000 international)
- "Truth or Dare," $1.9 million ($5.7 million international)
- "Super Troopers 2," $1.8 million ($90,000 international)
- "Bad Samaritan," $1.8 million