Avengers: Endgame broke box office records this weekend. What box office records? All of them.
Disney’s conclusion to this era of the Marvel Cinematic Universe made nearly $1.2 billion worldwide. That’s by far the best opening weekend of all time. In fact, it’s the first film to ever cross $1 billion in such a short time frame (five days). Avengers: Infinity War took 11 days.
In the US, Avengers: Endgame took in $350 million. That breaks the opening weekend record by nearly $100 million. That record previously belonged to Avengers: Infinity War, and its now-puny $257 million. On a more granular level, Avengers: Endgame absolutely dominated, the film shattered the opening night record with $60 million on Thursday night screenings alone, which topped the $57 million earned by Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens in 2015. Endgame‘s first day gross was $156.7 million. That’s another record. Its Saturday ($109 million) and Sunday ($84.3 million) earnings broke records too.
But it’s the international realm that catapaulted Endgame to this truly ludicrous feat. Disney and Marvel adopted the aggressive release strategy of releasing it in pretty much every available international market prior to the domestic release. The opening day in China set a record with $107 million in ticket sales. The full haul now in China is estimated to be $330.5 million. According to a Disney release, Endgame had the biggest single-day grosses in 29 markets, including Australia, China, Korea, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Spain, and U.K./Ireland. It was also the biggest opening weekend in 44 markets. As of weekend’s end, Avengers: Endgame is open in every international market save for Russia.
Avengers: Endgame is now the 8th Marvel film to cross $1 billion globally and the second this year after Captain Marvel. Captain Marvel took about a month to reach that feat. Endgame did it in its opening weekend. Oh and Avengers: Endgame is also now has the highest grossing IMAX debut ($91.5 million).
“Kevin Feige and the Marvel Studios team have continued to challenge notions of what is possible at the movie theatre both in terms of storytelling and at the box office,” Alan Horn, Chairman, The Walt Disney Studios, said in a statment. “Though Endgame is far from an end for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, these first 22 films constitute a sprawling achievement, and this weekend’s monumental success is a testament to the world they’ve envisioned, the talent involved, and their collective passion, matched by the irrepressible enthusiasm of fans around the world.”
Avengers: Endgame features some concepts that one would think would get in the way of tremendous box office earnings, like a three hour run time and some, let’s say, sci-fi elements. Still it’s clear that the 11 years of good will and 22 films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe ensured that fans would see this movie…whatever it takes.
