Marvel Studio’s Avengers: Endgame on Wednesday shattered Taiwanese box office records by grossing NT$80 million (US$2.59 million) on its first day.
The highly anticipated movie is the highest-grossing film ever on an opening day, the highest-grossing and most-viewed film on a single day, and the highest-selling Disney movie, with the highest number of screening theaters and showtimes, among other records.
The film also grossed HK$18.6 million (US$2.37 million) in Hong Kong, surpassing last year’s, Avengers: Infinity War, in single-day and opening-day box office figures.
Screen grab from the IMDB Web site
The film is anticipated to unseat Avatar — which grossed HK$178 million in 2009 — as the highest-grossing movie ever screened in Hong Kong.
Avengers: Endgame shattered records in China, grossing 535 million yuan (US$79.28 million) on opening day, becoming the fastest movie to reach US$100 million worldwide.
Former premier William Lai (賴清德), who last month registered to run in the Democratic Progressive Party’s presidential primary, was seen watching the movie at a theater in Taipei.
Lai posted a “spoiler-free” review on Facebook, saying that fighting against the odds resonated with him and calling Captain America his favorite character.
“Marvel superheroes are people with very different personalities and difficult pasts who oftentimes found themselves at odds, but were able to unite to stand against a great crisis and fight to the best of their abilities for a common cause, not personal gain,” he said.
A preclearance service to facilitate entry for people traveling to select airports in Japan would be available from Thursday next week to Feb. 25 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said on Tuesday. The service was first made available to Taiwanese travelers throughout the winter vacation of 2024 and during the Lunar New Year holiday. In addition to flights to the Japanese cities of Hakodate, Asahikawa, Akita, Sendai, Niigata, Okayama, Takamatsu, Kumamoto and Kagoshima, the service would be available to travelers to Kobe and Oita. The service can be accessed by passengers of 15 flight routes operated by
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GIVE AND TAKE: Blood demand continues to rise each year, while fewer young donors are available due to the nation’s falling birthrate, a doctor said Blood donors can redeem points earned from donations to obtain limited edition Formosan black bear travel mugs, the Kaohsiung Blood Center said yesterday, as it announced a goal of stocking 20,000 units of blood prior to the Lunar New Year. The last month of the lunar year is National Blood Donation Month, when local centers seek to stockpile blood for use during the Lunar New Year holiday. The blood demand in southern Taiwan — including Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Taitung counties — is about 2,000 units per day, the center said. The donation campaign aims to boost
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