In perhaps the most striking example yet of the growing power of female ticket buyers at the North American box office, the girl-powered PG-13 musical “Pitch Perfect 2” took in a hefty $70.3 million over the weekend, streaking past “Mad Max: Fury Road,” which was aimed primarily at men. The R-rated “Fury Road” took in about $44.4 million.
Going into the weekend, box-office analysts predicted the films would finish neck and neck. But women – historically overlooked by studios in the summer movie season – proved to be the more reliable audience. Crowds for “Pitch Perfect 2” (Universal Pictures) were 75 percent female; “Fury Road” (Warner Bros.) played to audiences that were 70 percent male. Universal scheduled “Pitch Perfect 2” in the competitive May corridor – the first movie was released in sleepy October – with some trepidation. “Pitch Perfect” collected $65 million in 2012 but encouraged Universal with online demands and DVD sales. A hit soundtrack also helped.
Hollywood saw a similar scenario play out in 1999 with the sequel “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.” Though the first “Austin Powers” took $54 through 1997 the sequel collected $55 million over its opening weekend alone, before heaping an eventual domestic total of $206 million.
“Pitch Perfect 2,” by Elizabeth Banks and written by Kay Cannon, and “Fury Road,” by Miller had vastly different budgets.
