NORTH AMERICA: 'Pitch Perfect 2' Returns to First Place on Tuesday with $5.28M; 'Mad Max: Fury Road' a Close Second with $5.03M

By Daniel Garris

Universal's Pitch Perfect 2 was up one spot over Monday to move back into first place on Tuesday with $5.28 million. The highly anticipated musical comedy sequel starring Anna Kendrick has led the daily box office for four of the past five days. Pitch Perfect 2 was up a slim 1 percent over Monday's performance. It should be noted that daily percentage holds in general were softer than usual for a Tuesday due to Monday's grosses being inflated by the Victoria Day holiday in Canada. Pitch Perfect 2 has grossed a stronger than expected $79.71 million in five days and will zoom past the $80 million mark today. The film is currently running a very impressive 37 percent ahead of the $58.31 million five-day start of last year's Neighbors (which increased 9 percent on its first Tuesday to gross $4.84 million).

Warner's Mad Max: Fury Road was down one spot from Monday to land in second with $5.03 million. The critically acclaimed action film starring Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron was down a solid 6 percent from Monday. Mad Max: Fury Road has grossed $55.79 million through five days of release. The film is running on the high end of pre-release expectations and its daily holds since Sunday suggest that it will continue to hold up well going forward. Mad Max: Fury Road is currently running 9 percent behind the $61.26 million five-day start of 2012's Prometheus (which fell 4 percent on its first Tuesday to gross $5.00 million).

Avengers: Age of Ultron held steady in third place with $3.02 million. The blockbuster superhero sequel from Disney and Marvel fell 12 percent from Monday and 50 percent from last Tuesday. Avengers: Age of Ultron is the highest grossing release of 2015 to date domestically with a 19-day take of $378.49 million. The film is currently running 19 percent behind the $468.27 million 19-day take of 2012's Marvel's The Avengers and 10 percent ahead of the $343.62 million 19-day gross of 2013's Iron Man 3.

Warner's Hot Pursuit took in $0.601 million to remain in fourth. The comedy from MGM and New Line starring Reese Witherspoon and Sofía Vergara was up a sizable 25 percent over Monday, but still down a sharp 53 percent from last Tuesday. Hot Pursuit has clearly taken a direct hit from Pitch Perfect 2 this week and has grossed a softer than expected $24.53 million in twelve days. That places the film 9 percent behind the $26.87 million twelve-day take of 2011's Something Borrowed.