The Avengers smashed box office records like never before with an astonishing US$1.2 billion in its opening weekend.
Avengers: Endgame earned US$350 million alone in the US and Canada, blowing through the US$258 million mark held by the superhero team’s own gloved hands with last year’s Infinity War.
Walt Disney Co now boasts the top four spots for opening weekends in the US and Canada, rounded out by The Last Jedi and The Force Awakens from the Star Wars franchise, researcher Comscore Inc said.
Photo: AFP
The film took in US$330.5 million in China, just one of the opening records set in 44 countries, Disney said on Sunday.
Avengers: Endgame was the first film to exceed US$1 billion in its opening, a level achieved in five days.
The film reached a domestic record of US$156.7 million on its first day, including Thursday night previews, beating the previous mark of US$119 million held by The Force Awakens in 2015.
It achieved the highest all-time box office for any Saturday or Sunday, and was shown on 4,662 screens in the US and Canada — the most ever.
The picture, the latest installment from Disney’s Marvel Studio, caps a 22-movie storyline that began with Iron Man in 2008.
The Avengers superheroes, including Captain America, Hulk and the Black Widow, are now battling the intergalactic villain Thanos, who was last seen wiping out half of the living creatures in the universe.
“We are floored and amazed by the response from all the moviegoers and fans around the world,” Walt Disney Pictures distribution president Cathleen Taff said in an interview.
While there was wide appeal, results were clearly driven by a young, male audience. The crowds were 57 percent male, with the biggest cohort of 28 percent between the ages of 25 to 34 — essentially the people who were there for the birth of the franchise in their teenage and early adult years.
Families comprised just 18 percent of the audience, a figure that might rise after the initial crush of the testosterone crowd, who lined up for tickets for days.
Taff said that she expects more families and younger viewers to turn up to future screenings as the film plays on.
“It’s going to play for quite a while,” she added.
Disney, which also owns the Star Wars franchise and is usually cautious with forecasts, had originally suggested an opening weekend in the US$300 million range.
The Marvel machine has been a huge moneymaker for Disney. For example, Infinity War earned an estimated US$985 million in profit, including TV, toys and theater ticket sales, S&P Global said.
Taff would not say whether it was possible to top this record.
“While this is an end in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it is certainly not the end,” she said. “It’s going to open up a whole new world of possibilities.”
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