Marvel decided to kick off the summer movie season a week early by shifting its highly-anticipatedAvengers: Infinity Warfrom May 4 to April 27, but that didn’t stop this superhero blockbuster from breaking box office records. The Marvel ensemble fell in line with recent box office projections, taking in an estimated $250 million, enough to break the all time opening weekend record of $247.9 million set in December 2015 byStar Wars: The Force Awakens. It’s possible that the actual numbers on Monday may be lower, andAvengers: Infinity Warwon’t break the record, although that seems unlikely.
Avengers: Infinity Waropened in 4,474 theaters this weekend, the second widestbox officeopening of all time behind the 4,529-theater debut of Universal’sDespicable Me 3last summer. It pulled in an impressive $55,878 per-screen average this weekend. WhileThe Force Awakens' all time opening weekend record seemed unbreakable for a period of time, the latest projections forAvengers: Infinity Warput it between $235 million and $255 million, although Disney’s own estimates were much more conservative, putting it at $210 million. While we’ll have to wait until Monday for the top 10 actual figures, it seems clear thatAvengers: Infinity Warhas secured the all time opening weekend record.
This news shouldn’t come astoo much of a surprise, considering howAvengers: Infinity Warwasdestroying the competition in pre-sales. Fandango reported thatAvengers: Infinity Warhad been out-selling the past seven Marvel Cinematic Universe movies combined. It had also doubled the pre-sales ofBlack Panther, which earned an impressive $202 million in February, which lead to many presuming thatInfinity Warwould break the all time record, which it did. It’s possible its opening weekend tally could even increase when the actual figures come in, but we’ll have to wait until tomorrow and see.
SinceAvengers: Infinity Warfacedno direct competition in wide release, the remainder of the top 10 was rounded out by holdovers from previous weeks. The top 10 is rounded out byA Quiet Place($10.6 million),I Feel Pretty($8.1 million),Rampage($7.1 million),Black Panther($4.3 million),Super Troopers 2($3.6 million),Truth or Dare($3.2 million),Blockers($2.9 million),Ready Player One($2.4 million) andTraffik($1.6 million). Opening in limited release was Bleecker Street’sDisobedience, which earned $241.276 from five theaters for an impressive $48,255 per-screen average, while IFC’sKingsearned $173,113 from 214 theaters for a dismal $809 per-screen average.
Looking ahead to next weekend, Focus Features debutsTully, while Electric Entertainment debutsBad Samaritanand Pantelion debutsOverboard. None of those movies are expected to open wider than 1,800 theaters though so they shouldn’t giveInfinity Warmuch competition. Take a look at the top 10 estimates, courtesy ofBox Office Mojo.
