Avengers: Infinity War Shatters Records
Walt Disney Studios/Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Infinity War, the 19th chapter of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, debuted with $257.70 million last weekend (Apr. 27-29), eclipsing Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ previous all-time record of $247.97 million. Infinity War came in well ahead of Disney’s expectations. The movie also became the first non-Star Wars title to earn more than $100 million in a single day with its Friday debut and set new records for each day over the weekend.
Infinity War’s opening weekend attendance was similar to The Force Awakens. Its now-previous record adjusts to around $261 million using 2018 ticket prices. Infinity War also became the widest release in history at 4,474 domestic locations, topping The Twilight Saga: Eclipse’s 4,468 screens in 2010, while elevating the overall box office to its biggest weekend as the three days overtook the weekend The Force Awakens opened in December 2015.
Worldwide, Infinity War set an all-time record with a $640.52 million debut despite not having opened in China yet. The $382.82 million international opening stands as the second highest ever behind The Fate of the Furious with $443 million, which included $185 million from China.
Needless to say, Infinity War more or less leveled nearly every other movie in theaters, including two-time champ A Quiet Place, which finished a distant second with $11.00 million in its fourth weekend. That represents the Paramount Pictures hit’s highest drop to date (47.4 percent), but given the competition that is actually a stellar hold. The movie’s total now stands at $148.53 million.
In third place, STX Entertainment’s I Feel Pretty took in $8.18 million, down a not-bad 49.0 percent from the previous weekend. The Amy Schumer comedy weathered Infinity War better than most holdovers, partially because it is not competing as directly with the MCU blockbuster as more action-oriented titles. The film has grossed $29.62 million after 10 days, putting it slightly below Schumer’s previous comedy Snatched, which finished with a disappointing $45.8 million last summer.
In fourth place was Warner Bros. Pictures’ Rampage with $7.21 million in its third weekend. The Dwayne Johnson action film plunged 64.1 percent to give it a gross of $78.0 million after 17 days. With the blockbuster summer movie season heating up, the video game adaptation is unlikely to top $100 million domestically, but it has more than quadrupled its North American earnings overseas, giving it a healthy $334.6 million total worldwide.
In other Marvel-related news, Black Panther enjoyed a spillover effect from Infinity War and doubleheader screenings as the film slipped only 3.9 percent from the previous weekend domestically and returned to the top five in its 11th weekend. With $4.74 million, Black Panther also surpassed Star Wars: The Last Jedi for ninth place on the all-time global chart, cracking $1.33 billion internationally and $688.35 domestically last weekend.
Suffering the worst drop of any movie in the Top 10 was Super Troopers 2, which fell 75.4 percent to sixth place with $3.6 million in its second weekend. That wasn’t a big surprise, as the sequel to the 2002 cult comedy had a heavily front-loaded opening weekend made up of fans who had waited more than 15 years for a follow-up and many of whom contributed to the film’s successful Indiegogo campaign. The Fox Searchlight release now has earned $22.21 million after 10 days.
Blumhouse’s Truth or Dare finished in seventh place in its third weekend with $3.27 million, giving the Universal Pictures horror flick a total of $35.37 million after 17 days. Universal’s Blockers finished in eighth place in its fourth weekend with $2.98 million, giving the Leslie Mann-John Cena comedy a respectable $53.25 million so far. Ninth and 10th places went to Warner Bros.’ Ready Player One with $2.56 million and Traffik with $1.65 million.. The Steven Spielberg sci-fi’s total now stands at $130.81 million domestically while the Lionsgate thriller has $6.79 million.
The top 10 films last weekend grossed $303.59 million. That is 184.3 percent above the previous weekend’s $106.59 million total. It is also 275.07 percent ahead of the $80.79 million on the same weekend last year, when The Fate of the Furious led with $19.94 million for the third weekend. Year-to-date, the domestic box office returned to an increase over the same point last year, now up 3.9 percent.
This Week | Last Week | Movie | Weekend Gross | Cumulative Gross | Weeks |
1 | NEW | Avengers: Infinity War | $257.70M | $257.70M | 1 |
2 | 1 | A Quiet Place | $11.00M | $148.53M | 4 |
3 | 3 | I Feel Pretty | $8.18M | $29.62M | 2 |
4 | 2 | Rampage | $7.21M | $78.03M | 3 | 5 | 8 | Black Panther | $4.74M | $688.36M | 11 |
6 | 4 | Super Troopers 2 | $3.73M | $22.21M | 2 |
7 | 5 | Truth or Dare | $3.27M | $35.37M | 3 |
8 | 7 | Blockers | $2.98M | $53.25M | 4 |
9 | 6 | Ready Player One | $2.56M | $130.81M | 5 |
10 | 9 | Traffik | $1.65M | $6.79M | 2 |
Editor-in-Chief Mark Heckathorn is a journalist, movie buff and foodie. He oversees DC on Heels editorial operations as well as strategic planning and staff development. Reach him with story ideas or suggestions at dcoheditor (at) gmail (dot) com.