The most traditional ways movies and sports collide is in a sports movie. Often about underdogs overcoming tremendous odds.
However, other times, it just so happens that big movies are released around the same time major sporting events take place. That’s what occurred in the first weekend of May, 10 years ago, and there was definitely no underdog. These were heavyweights going at it across the world of entertainment, with screens of all sorts filled with events.
All of five of the major professional sports leagues were in play. The NFL, NBA, NHL, MLS, MLB all had events, on top of the “Avengers” sequel being released. Oh yeah, there was also the biggest horse race and boxing fight taking place. Here’s a breakdown of that legendary weekend.
Avengers: Age of Ultron
In 2012, the film industry was changed in a gargantuan way when the Avengers assembled on screen. In Marvel’s superhero film, characters from across multiple films came together in one and showed that the cinematic universe concept could work. “Age of Ultron” was the long-awaited follow-up.
This was where the weekend started for me, seeing “Ultron” as part of a Thursday night double-feature, directly following a screening of the first film. The sequel was unfortunately not as good as its predecessor and today stands as technically the lowest rated “Avengers” film.
However, it certainly isn’t a bad film. It provides a ton of spectacle and establishes major details for the Infinity saga. There are some great moments between Iron Man and Captain America that continue their intertwining character arcs, along with some really good superhero set-pieces.
Seeing Cap and Thor use team moves with Mjolnir and the shield was exciting, as was watching Thor, Iron Man and Vision blast Ultron in a unified attack. Plus, James Spader was a perfect voice for the AI menace and the final conversation between Vision and Ultron is really good stuff.
In a way, it felt kind of like the sacrificial lamb of the series, in that it had to be an “Avengers” sequel, carry on all the plot threads from Phase 2, establish more of the Infinity Stone lore and introduce a bunch of new characters. All things considered, it came out on the other end OK, and was successful financially, too.
Opening across 4,276 theaters, the “Avengers” sequel’s Thursday night screenings provided a major launch point for the weekend. In total, $191.3 million was generated by the film in its first weekend. It provided a great deal of entertainment crossover for audiences to take in both an epic movie and exciting sports events.
Other Cinema Options
While “Age of Ultron” was certainly the main draw at cinemas, it wasn’t the only option at the theater to see. The first weekend of May featured another flick, and interestingly enough it was also about artificial intelligence.
“Ex Machina” was playing that weekend, and though it had been shown earlier in limited releases and film festivals, the last week of April and the first of May were the times for wider audiences to see it. It was the latter for me, seeing it at mid-day Saturday and it ended up being one of the year’s best films.
Having both a major blockbuster and a well-made, artful science fiction thriller gave a good variety of viewing experiences for those who wanted to be in the cinema. So did “The Age of Adaline,” a romantic drama in the theaters for its second week.
The film, interestingly enough, had a dash of sci-fi as well with its main protagonist not being able to age because of a chance situation. It was a solid little flick with a unique premise, good characters and a heartfelt romance. Overall, it was a weekend really catering to genre films, making for enjoyable theater visits all around.
The Launch of the 2015 Blockbuster Season
Along with starting the summer movie season, “Avengers: Age of Ultron” also kicked off a gigantic blockbuster year as well. Not that there hadn’t been a good teaser with “Furious 7” released a couple weeks earlier, generating $147.1 million in its opening, but “Ultron” really solidified what was going to be a banner year for movies.
Along with Marvel and the “Fast and Furious” series, audiences witnessed franchise releases for “Mad Max” in “Fury Road,” “James Bond” with “Spectre,” “Star Wars” with “The Force Awakens,” the “Jurassic” series with “Jurassic World,” “The Hunger Games” with “Mockingjay 2” and “Mission: Impossible” with “Rogue Nation.”
That’s eight major movie series all getting big sequels, on top of Pixar putting out its original hit “Inside Out.” For the first weekend in May, “Ultron” pulled in $191.3 million and the box office had a total of $292.9 for the weekend. As a whole, 2015 had a domestic box office haul of $11.14 billion, still the fourth highest in history.
Worldwide, the 2015 line-up brought in $36.68 billion, also the fourth highest in history. While “Ultron” and “Furious 7” weren’t the top earners for 2015, there’s no doubt that the first weekend in May was a major anchor to the year’s successful box office run.
Floyd Mayweather Vs. Manny Pacquiao
The Avengers Vs. Ultron may have been a big bout, but it was not the most notable fight of the weekend. Instead, it was the boxing match between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, dubbed The Fight of the Century. Taking place May 2, it had been in the works for years before both fighters and their respective rightsholders, HBO and Showtime, would put on the battle.
Mayweather entered the fight with a 47-0 record, holding the title of WBA, WBC and The Ring Welterweight Champion. Pacquiao, meanwhile, was 57-5-2 and was a champion himself with the WBO title belt.
The hype was enormous. Numerous private jets were parked at the Las Vegas airport as celebrities descended on Sin City for the event. The question lingered ahead of the fight, could Pacquiao with his power land that one knock-out to end Mayweather’s streak?
I watched the fight at a Buffalo Wild Wings and there was a $20 cover fee just to get in. The place was packed, the atmosphere was electric and we were 1,600 miles away. Few sporting events, even those involving my team, have generated the kind of buzz that match had.
The fight itself was, in many peoples’ minds, a bit disappointing. But overall, it wasn’t a bad fight, it was just a very technical one. Mayweather is very much a defensive fighter and he kept Pacquiao at bay. Could the fight have been better had it been done earlier when both boxers were younger? Sure.
However, it was still great to see two generational talents go at it in this all out fight. It no doubt brought in a lot of views, with a record 4.6 million Pay Per View buys for more than $410 million in revenue. To this day, it’s still the highest selling boxing bout in history.
The Kentucky Derby
Before the first bell was rung to start the Fight of the Century, there was the 141st running of the Kentucky Derby. It’s one of the biggest horse races in the world and is the first leg of the Triple Crown events, with the other two being the Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes. Going into the 2015 race, no horse and jockey had won all three jewels in the Crown since 1978.
That’s what made 2015 special, as many saw the horse American Pharaoh and rider Victor Espinoza as having the best chance to be the ones to end the drought. Their campaign started successfully that May weekend, in front of 170,513 attendees, American Pharoah finished first with a time of 2:03:02. I was able to watch the exciting race at a hotel bar, as I was staying at a Holiday Inn.
In a serendipitous way, the biggest event in American horseracing took place on the same day as the Fight of the Century and it ended up being historic in hindsight. American Pharoah and Espinoza went on to win the Preakness and Belmont, earning the Triple Crown.
Since then, there’s been a Triple Crown winner just once in 2018. Overall, the Triple Crown has been won just 13 times. These two sporting events and the big box office draw would have been big by themselves, but on top of all this, the five major sports leagues were active.
The NBA Playoffs
April, May and June are when the NBA and NHL hold their playoffs, and the middle month is where most of the action happens.
On the court, action started the night of Friday, May 1, when the Atlanta Hawks defeated the Brooklyn Nets to win their series and move on to the Eastern Conference Semis. A short time later, the Hawks would play the Washington Wizards on Sunday, May 3, where they would fall to D.C.
That same day, in the Western Conference, the Golden State Warriors would defeat the Memphis Grizzlies, 101-86 with Steph Curry scoring 22. It was one of several wins for the Warriors on the way to winning the 2015 NBA Finals.
However, it was another Saturday match that ended up being the main event. The two best words in sports occurred, Game Seven. The defending champion San Antonio Spurs played the Los Angeles Clippers. DeAndre Jordan, Chris Paul and Blake Griffin Vs. Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker.
In a stroke of television luck, the game fit right between the Kentucky Derby and the evening boxing match, with the Clippers winning a tightly contested game, 111-109.
The Stanley Cup Playoffs
The weekend was also loaded with playoff action on the ice. In the Eastern Conference, the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Montreal Canadiens 2-1 in a double overtime battle. In the Western Conference, sadly, my Minnesota Wild lost a close one to the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3.
On Saturday, ahead of the Kentucky Derby, Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals faced off with the defending Eastern Conference Champion New York Rangers, led by goalie Henrik Lundqvist. In the end, the Rangers would defeat the Capitals in a back and forth match and win the series before falling in the Eastern Conference Finals against the aforementioned Lightning.
Speaking of the Lightning, they were back in action Sunday, May 3, and crushed Montreal 6-2. The Blackhawks also, unfortunately, had a decisive win, 4-1 over Minnesota. Finally, that day, the Anaheim Ducks shutout the Calgary Flames, 3-0.
Chicago would go on to defeat the Lightning in the Stanley Cup Finals, earning their third championship in five years, solidifying their dynasty status.
The 2015 NFL Draft
The National Football League has its games played in fall and winter, and yet still gets eyeballs glued to the screen in spring thanks to its big draft event. Most years, it takes place on the last week of April and is over by the time May starts. Since 2005, the three-day event has entered May just a handful of times. That was the case in 2015.
The event began April 30 and lasted through May 2. The biggest day of the draft is of course the opening night. I caught a bit of the first round, at least the later half of it, since I was watching the back-to-back “Avengers” screening. After the film, I went to a nearby Applebee’s to watch the rest of the draft, have a beer and write my review which was due for the newspaper the next morning.
The first round was headlined by quarterbacks Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota, both Heisman Trophy winners who led their teams to successful college football campaigns. Unfortunately, both ended up being busts.
There were quite a few disappointments for teams in that three-day draft overall, but plenty of gems, too, such as CB Marcus Peters, Edge Frank Clark and WR Amari Cooper.
For my favorite teams, meanwhile, it was a pretty good experience. One unfortunate pick was Trae Waynes who didn’t live up to being a first rounder, though he was still a fine player. Otherwise, the Vikings had strong selections with great contributors like LB Eric Kendricks (Round 2), DE Danielle Hunter (Round 3) and, most importantly, WR Stefon Diggs (Round 5).
For five seasons, Diggs was the Vikings’ go-to receiver and was responsible for one of the biggest plays in the history of the franchise.
The University of Minnesota Golden Gophers, meanwhile, also had a bunch of players picked up after they had a banner year, making their first New Year’s Day Bowl game since 1961.
Standout TE Maxx Williams was picked up by the Baltimore Ravens in Round 2 and LB Damien Wilson became a Dallas Cowboy in Round 4. Plus, star RB David Cobb went to the Tennessee Titans and Cedric Thompson, a solid safety was picked up by the Miami Dolphins, both in Round 5. Wilson would later go on to win a Super Bowl ring with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Also, fun fact, the Jacksonville Jaguars signed an offensive lineman, Chris Reed, from the Division II school Minnesota State University, Mankato, as an undrafted free agent. Overall, it was the first time since 2006 that the Gophers had four players drafted, and just the second time with that many since 2000.
Combined with the Vikings snagging good players in later rounds, and it was a pretty enjoyable draft for us Minnesotans that concluded Saturday afternoon around the same time as the Capitals Vs. Rangers game. I remember catching both at a TGI Fridays after watching “Ex Machina” at a nearby theater.
MLB Regular Season Rivalries
I’m going to be upfront about this. I’m not a baseball fan. I’ve tried to get into it, but I just can’t do it. I enjoy all of the other sports listed here except this one. However, I acknowledge its significance in sports, and while it was just a regular season period, there were quite a few rivalry games being played the first weekend in May, 2015.
So, let’s dive in for a historical perspective. The biggest rivalry in baseball for the weekend was the New York Yankees taking on the Boston Red Sox. It was a clean sweep for New York, as they defeated Boston Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
My hometown Minnesota Twins were also in action against their AL Central Division rival, the Chicago White Sox. The teams met four times in a row, and I may not follow the sport, but I’m happy to say Minnesota won all of the games. The first was played Thursday, April 30, and then they played the next three days, concluding Sunday with a 13-3 Twins victory.
Another Chicago team was in action over the weekend, too, taking on their NL Central Division rival, the Milwaukee Brewers. The two teams are separated by just 83 miles, and they played three games in a row. The Cubs won the first game on Friday night before losing on Saturday and Sunday.
There was also action on the West Coast with a Golden State Showdown. The San Francisco Giants played the Los Angeles Angels in three games over the weekend, earning a clean 3-0 sweep of their in-state opponent.
The Kansas City Royals also played an AL Central Division rival, with a four-game series against the Detroit Tigers. The games also started Thursday, April 30, and concluded on Sunday, May 3, and ended up being a split. Kansas City won the first two and Detroit won the next two. Kansas City would go on to win the World Series that season.
MLS Regular Season Rivalries
So Major League Soccer doesn’t have as big of a draw as the other big four associations but it was still in action and I’ve been a longtime fan.
However, this was before my state had a team in there, as the Minnesota United FC didn’t enter the MLS until 2017. Though they were active in the lower division North American Soccer League that weekend, and actually had a 2-2 draw with Edmonton FC on Sunday, May 3.
As for the MLS, like baseball, it was a weekend of rivalries.
On Friday, May 1, the Texas Derby between FC Dallas and the Houston Dynamo took place, with the former earning a 4-1 win. Then, on Saturday, there were five games, highlighted between another New York Vs. Boston match. In a tightly contested game, the New England Revolution defeated the New York Red Bulls 2-1.
That same day, two northwest rivals, the Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps played each other to a 0-0 draw. Though that match ended in a draw, the Timbers would end up winning the MLS Cup at the end of the season, defeating the Columbus Crew. Columbus was also in action that Saturday, falling 2-0 to D.C. United.
Finally, on Sunday, May 3, there was a Midwest contest where Sporting Kansas City defeated the Chicago Fire 1-0. Additionally, there was a Coast-to-Coast battle between the Seattle Sounders and New York City FC, with the former winning 3-1.
Wrap-Up
Sports and movies are both fantastic forms of escapism and can each lead to fascinating analysis and discussion. As a fan of both, this weekend was like the planets aligning. Did every piece of entertainment live up to the hype? No, but that’s OK. The experience of watching all of these events, and especially doing it communally, was a really great vibe.
That’s one of the great things with each. Movies and sports can be really fun to watch with crowds and that was the case this weekend. At bars and theaters, there was a great deal of energy and excitement that I still remember to this day.
Of course, my birthday being May 3, I’m a little bias in remembering this specific weekend. But I don’t think it’s unique to say I was alone in enjoying this amazing cross section. I’d like to think, even if your team lost, that movie buffs who also love sports experienced something spectacular and rare to begin the month of May in 2015.
Matthew Liedke on Film 