Avengers: Infinity War has started the summer movie season with a huge bang. The latest chapter in the MCU canon more than delivered on its immense promise this weekend with a colossal, record-breaking opening of $250 million, surpassing Star Wars: The Force Awakens‘ opening weekend gross of $247.9 million back in December 2015. If estimates hold, that gives the Disney-Marvel blockbuster the biggest opening weekend of all time.
Infinity War‘s astronomical opening wasn’t much of a surprise when considering the film’s grosses early in the weekend, where it took in $39 million in Thursday night previews (fourth best of all time) and a gargantuan $105.9 million on Friday (making it the second best opening day all-time and the first non-Star Wars film to gross over $100 million in its first full day of release). It didn’t hurt that the team-up sequel, which features the largest cast of Marvel characters in a single movie to date, received largely-positive reviews (it has a “Certified Fresh” score of 84% on Rotten Tomatoes) and a solid “A” Cinemascore based on exit surveys.
The opening represents a major improvement on the two previous Avengers installments, which took in $207.4 million and $191.2 million, respectively, on their way to final grosses of $623 million and $459 million in North America.
How Infinity War performs in the weeks ahead will be key in determining its final placement on the list of all-time blockbusters. As we’ve mentioned here previously, the film’s legs could potentially suffer due to the fact that it’s not a standalone MCU installment – which tend to hold better – but rather the first of a two-part story that hinges on a particularly dark cliffhanger. Nonetheless, this is a massive debut that once again reaffirms the enduring power of the MCU brand and its dedication to quality, audience-pleasing filmmaking.
Needless to say, Infinity War more or less leveled nearly every other title currently in the marketplace, including two-time champ A Quiet Place, which finished a very, very distant second with $10.6 million in its fourth weekend. That represents the Paramount hit’s highest drop to date (49 percent), but given the competition that’s actually a stellar hold. The Paramount release’s total now stands at a remarkable $148.1 million.
In third place, STX’s I Feel Pretty grossed an estimated $8.1 million, down a not-bad 49 percent from last weekend. The Amy Schumer vehicle weathered the Infinity War-dominated frame better than most holdovers, partially owing to the fact that it’s not competing as directly with the MCU blockbuster as more action-oriented titles. The film’s total now stands at a so-so $29.5 million after ten days, putting it slightly below Schumer’s previous comedy Snatched, which finished with a disappointing $45.8 million last summer.
More to come…
The post Studio Weekend Estimates: ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ Explodes with Record-Breaking $250M, Topping ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ appeared first on BoxOffice Pro.
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