Avengers tops box office for 2nd week; fastest to surpass US$1b mark

Los Angeles

WALT Disney Co's Avengers: Infinity War won the box office for the second weekend in a row, outrunning other new movies and surpassing a whopping US$1 billion in global ticket sales.

The first of a two-part instalment from the Marvel Entertainment franchise, Infinity War garnered US$112.5 million from theatres in the US and Canada, according to latest estimates from ComScore Inc.

Sales fell from the previous week by 56 per cent while beating a forecast of US$111 million by Box Office Pro. Three new wide releases - Overboard, Tully and Bad Samaritan - placed second, sixth and 10th, respectively.

The new Avengers instalment beat Black Panther to rank only behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens for the biggest second weekend in theatres.

As the fastest movie ever to cross US$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 5.1 per cent over the same period last year, according to ComScore.

Through Sunday, it generated US$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 US$14.8 million against a forecast of US$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 per cent of reviews were positive, according to aggregator RottenTomatoes.com.

Tully is another film with a mother in the lead role. Charlize Theron plays Marlo, who has three children including a newborn, and she has gifted a nanny called Tully.

The movie opened to US$3.19 million, versus a forecast of US$3.9 million. It received 89 per cent positive reviews, according to RottenTomatoes.com.

Electric Entertainment's Bad Samaritan earned US$1.76 million, having been forecast to generate US$1.9 million.

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 per cent being positive, according to RottenTomatoes.com. BLOOMBERG