‘Avengers: Infinity War’ easily toppled the global box office with the highest domestic and global openings of all time.
Marvel’s « Avengers: Infinity War, » the only new wide release this weekend, crushed the box office with an estimated $250-million debut in the U. S. and Canada, according to figures from measurement firm ComScore.
That makes it the highest domestic opening of all time (not adjusted for inflation) — above the $247.9-million debut of « Star Wars: The Force Awakens » — as well as the highest global opening of all time, with $630 million in global receipts even without the Chinese market.
« It’s an extraordinary, extraordinary weekend, » said Dave Hollis, Disney’s distribution chief. « And it’s more than anything a reflection of the culmination of ten years of work from [Marvel Studios president] Kevin Feige, [producers] Louis D’Esposito and Victoria Alonso, the entire Marvel Studios team. They’ve done so much in layering this universe film-by-film…and it all led to this. »
The third « Avengers » film and the 19th entry from Marvel Studios, « Infinity War » was well-received by both audiences and critics, earning an A rating on CinemaScore and an 84% « fresh » rating on review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes.
The film, which was shot entirely with IMAX cameras, is the No. 1 Marvel IMAX debut ever with an estimated $41 million globally — from $22.5 million in domestic ticket sales and $18.5 million in international receipts, minus China and Russia.
Films taking place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe have now amassed $15.4 billion to date. Marvel holds six (and parent company Disney holds nine) of the 10 films with the biggest opening weekends of all time.
« In some ways it feels like a fitting tribute to ten years of unparalleled success to have ‘Infinity War’ sitting atop the record books, » said Hollis. « ‘Infinity War’ was absolutely a great follow-up to ‘Black Panther,’ which in and of itself has become a cultural phenomenon. So the momentum of ‘Black Panther’ actually acted as a bit of a catalyst to some of the success we’re seeing. »
« Panther, » which returned to the top five from the No. 8 spot last week, added $4.4 million in ticket sales — the smallest decline of the top 10 at just 11% — for a cumulative $688 million. The film currently boasts the highest cumulative gross of all the MCU films, followed by « Marvel’s The Avengers » with $623.3 million in domestic grosses.
Disney hit the $1 billion mark at the domestic box office faster than any studio ever, aided in no small part by the juggernaut « Black Panther » and now « Infinity War » as well as « Wrinkle in Time, » and « Coco, » though the studio earned the bulk of the money in 2017.
« Infinity War » unofficially kicks off summer box office season with films like « Deadpool 2, » « Solo, » « Jurassic World » and « The Incredibles 2 » expected to continue to ignite the box office.
In second place, Paramount’s « A Quiet Place, » now in its fourth weekend, added $10.6 million in ticket sales for a cumulative $148.2 million.
Coming in third, STX Entertainment’s Amy Schumer-led comedy « I Feel Pretty, » now in its second weekend, earned $8.1 million for a cumulative $29.6 million.
In fourth place, Warner Bros.’ « Rampage, » now in its third weekend, earned $7.1 million for a cumulative $77.9 million. The film, along with fellow action picture « Ready Player One » were hit especially hard by « Infinity War’s » box office eclipse since those films are targeted at Marvel’s core demographic of 18-34 year old men.
Next week, Electric Entertainment opens the horror thriller « Bad Samaritan, » Pantellion premieres the « Overboard » remake and Focus Features unveils the comedy « Tully. » Magnolia Pictures also drops the documentary « RBG » in limited release.
sonaiya.kelley@latimes.com
follow me on twitter @sonaiyak
