Like clockwork, a new Marvel film has hit theaters and box office records are being smashed. Avengers: Endgame released this past Friday (Thursday in some cities) and the estimated box office take has been posted online. While the previous movie, Avengers: Infinity War, took in a staggering $560 million, Endgame has nearly doubled it with a $1.2 billion gross for the weekend. I’m still finding it hard to process that amount because it’s more than most films make in their initial run and re-release.
Breaking it down further, the United States contributed around $350 million while the worldwide gross accounted for $859 million. China, in particular, nearly equaled America’s box office with a $329 million gross, though that accounts for five-day totals instead of just the weekend. It seems like basically everyone and their mother was at the theater to see the 11-year conclusion to the MCU.
Speaking to Variety, Paul Dergarabedian (senior media analyst at Comscore) said, “‘Endgame‘ represents the culmination of a decade long commitment of Marvel to the audience and the fans’ devotion to the beloved characters of the MCU. This massive and historic debut shows that by delivering consistently great movies coupled with characters inhabited by perhaps the most perfectly cast group of actors in cinematic history, Marvel has literally rewritten the rule book and in the process has made box office history.”
Being a massive achievement in its own right, this is also apparently a huge boon to the American box office. According to Variety, overall film gross for 2019 has been down 16.7% over last year. With Endgame’s profit, that percentage has dropped to 13.3%. Dergarabedian added, “Endgame has truly started the momentum rolling on potentially the biggest revenue generating summer (and year) in box office history.”
As for what else happened this weekend, I don’t think it really matters. Nothing even came close, including Marvel’s other currently running film, Captain Marvel. Everything combined still doesn’t come close to Endgame’s domestic gross, let alone its global take. Films that did open the same weekend aren’t even in the top 10, which just goes to show you how much of a stranglehold Marvel and Disney have on the box office.
- Avengers: Endgame – $350,000,000
- Captain Marvel – $8,051,000
- The Curse of La Llorna – $7,500,000
- Breakthrough – $6,304,000
- Shazam – $5,520,000
- Little – $3,438,000
- Dumbo – $3,239,000
- Pet Semetary – $1,290,000
- Us – $1,141,000
- Penguins – $1,051,000
‘Avengers: Endgame‘ Obliterates Records With $1.2 Billion Global Debut [Variety]
