USA TODAY — LOS ANGELES — Avengers: Infinity War is still ruling the box office in its third weekend in theaters, easily beating out the mom-themed fare.
Walt Disney Studios on Sunday estimated that Infinity War has added $61.8 million from North American theaters, bringing its total domestic earnings to $547.8 million. Globally the film has now grossed more than $1.6 billion — $200 million of it from the movie's massive opening in China this weekend. It's now the fifth highest-grossing film of all time worldwide.
The superhero blockbuster overpowered newcomers like the Melissa McCarthy comedy Life of the Party and the Gabrielle Union thriller Breaking In, both of which were strategically timed to debut on Mother's Day weekend. Both films drew overwhelmingly female audiences, too.
In a distant second, Life of the Party earned an estimated $18.5 million, which is a few million short of some of McCarthy's other comedy collaborations with husband Ben Falcone, including Tammy and The Boss. It also got similarly mixed reviews from critics. McCarthy stars as a woman dumped by her husband who decides to go back to college with her daughter.
The studio is "thrilled" with the results.
"It's escapist movie palace fare," says Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros.' president of domestic distribution.
The modestly budgeted Breaking In took third place with $16.5 million, overperforming most industry expectations despite lackluster reviews. The film stars Union as a mom who has to fight to save her kids from a group of home invaders.
"It's an edge-of-the-seat thriller that you may not always associate with Mother's Day, but it worked extraordinarily well," says Jim Orr, Universal's president of domestic theatrical distribution.
The release is the latest in a long string of successful collaborations with producer Will Packer, who also produced Girls Trip and the Ride Along films.
Also benefiting from the Mother's Day timing was the Overboard remake, starring Anna Faris and Eugenio Derbez, which earned $10.1 million to take fourth place, down only 31% from its debut last weekend. Rounding out the top five: John Krasinski's thriller A Quiet Place with $6.4 million; it has now earned $169.6 million domestically.
"This is a typical Mother's Day weekend with a big blockbuster in the mix and some counterprogramming thrown in for good measure as we await the arrival of Deadpool 2 next week," says comScore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian.
Because of the massive success of Infinity War, the box office is up 4.9% for the year, and a slew of blockbusters coming up are hoping to continue the success, including Deadpool 2 and Solo: A Star Wars Story just one week later.
Final figures are expected Monday.
