Weekend Box Office: 'Pitch Perfect' Stuns in Triumph Over 'Mad Max'

It's time to sing the praises of "Pitch Perfect 2." In its first weekend, the sequel performed an aca-mazing feat: it earned more in three days than the original "Pitch Perfect" earned in its entire theatrical domestic run.

"Pitch Perfect 2" earned a surprising $70.3 million in its debut weekend, roughly $5 million more than the first movie earned in all domestically. That $70 million is also more than twice the movie's production budget, which was a paltry $29 million.

The movie benefited from a fan base built slowly over time: while "Pitch Perfect" didn't perform all that well in theaters, it was the most-played movie on HBO Go in the past year, beating out heavy hitters like "The Dark Knight Rises." Futhermore, Anna Kendrick's star power has grown in the time since the first movie came out, potentially bringing in new fans.

"Pitch Perfect 2" easily beat its main competition this weekend, "Mad Max: Fury Road." The George Miller reboot earned about $44.4 million domestically, however it just barely beat out "Pitch Perfect 2" internationally with a total of $109.4 million compared to $108.4 million.

"Mad Max: Fury Road" has been the critical darling, with a near-perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes and lots of word-of-mouth on social media. Expect it to have a good second weekend as a result.

"Avengers: Age of Ultron" came in third place in its third weekend, continuing a strong run with $38.8 million for a domestic cumulative total of an impressive $372 million.

Reese Witherspoon's "Hot Pursuit" did not hold well to its second weekend, dropping to just $5.7 million for a cume of $23.5 million.

In fifth place was "Furious 7," continuing an excellent run with $3.6 million in its fifth week for a total of just under $350 million domestically.

Here are the top five for the week:

1. "Pitch Perfect 2" - $70.3M

2. "Mad Max: Fury Road" - $44.4M

3. "Avengers: Age of Ultron" - $38.8M ($372M)

4. "Hot Pursuit" - $5.7M ($23.5M)

5. "Furious 7" - $3.6M ($343.7M)