‘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
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