Infinity War was Marvel Studios’ widest release ever (4,474 theaters), and it topped the previous 3-day box office record of $247.9 million set by Star Wars: The Force Awakens in December of 2015. Disney has been very conservative on its Sunday estimates for big releases like Black Panther ($10 million below actual) and The Avengers ($7 million), so the final tally for Infinity War, which will be released tomorrow, could be well over $250 million, though it is unlikely to top the inflation-adjusted $262 million dollar total of The Force Awakens. But inflation adjusting is for insiders and Avengers: Infinity War now holds the record for the biggest 3-day box office debut.
Overseas Infinity War brought in $380 million from about 70% of the world market, a total that trails only Fate of the Furious, which had the advantage of opening in China, which Infinity War won’t do until May 11. However Infinity War did so much better here in North America ($250 million versus FoF’s $98.8 million) that it easily took the record for largest worldwide opening with a gargantuan debut total of $630 million (vs. FoF’s $541.9 million).
Additional domestic records that Infinity War set include “largest ‘clean’ Friday total (not counting Thursday night showings), largest single Saturday gross, largest single Sunday gross, largest April opening, widest PG-13 release, and fastest film ever to reach $150, $200, and $250 million. In addition Infinity War’s opening drove the total gross of all 19 Marvel Studios’ movies to $15.5 billion.
With a solid critical rating (84% positive) and an “A” CinemaScore from opening weekend audiences, Infinity War should hold sway over the box office until Deadpool 2 debuts on May 18, though avoiding a high percentage drop from such a massive opening will be difficult. Suffice it to say that there appear to be few signs of “superhero fatigue” among audiences, rather a growing taste for super-powered serial dramas both here and abroad.
Opening weekend audiences for Avengers: infinity War skewed male (58%) and a bit older (58% over 25), but the breakdown across age groups show widespread appeal with eight percent of the audience under 12, 11% 13-16, 23% 17-25, 26% 26-35, 21% 35-49, and 11% over 50.
Another interesting feature of the Infinity War debut was that, while it stomped all over top ten holdovers like Rampage (down 65%), the debut of the new Avengers film actually boosted box office of Black Panther, which dropped a mere 11.1% as it moved up the charts from #8 to #5, adding $4.4 million to bring its leading year-to-date total to $688 million, topping the inflation-adjusted total of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight, and becoming the highest-grossing solo superhero film of all time. And don’t think that because Infinity War debuted with $48 million more than Black Panther that the Avengers film is necessarily going to top Black Panther here in the domestic market. It is way too soon to predict that.
|
Weekend Box Office (Studio Estimates): April 27-29, 2018 |
||||||
|
Film |
Weekend Gross |
Screens |
Avg./Screen |
Total Gross |
Wk# |
|
|
1 |
Avengers: Infinity War |
$250,000,000 |
4,474 |
$55,878 |
$250,000,000 |
1 |
|
2 |
A Quiet Place |
$10,650,000 |
3,565 |
$2,987 |
$148,173,301 |
4 |
|
3 |
I Feel Pretty |
$8,130,000 |
3,440 |
$2,363 |
$29,573,561 |
2 |
|
4 |
Rampage |
$7,105,000 |
3,508 |
$2,025 |
$77,930,557 |
3 |
|
5 |
Black Panther |
$4,381,000 |
1,650 |
$2,655 |
$688,009,489 |
11 |
|
6 |
Super Troopers 2 |
$3,600,000 |
2,125 |
$1,694 |
$22,084,929 |
2 |
|
7 |
Truth or Dare |
$3,210,000 |
2,420 |
$1,326 |
$35,316,995 |
3 |
|
8 |
Blockers |
$2,945,000 |
2,324 |
$1,267 |
$53,215,490 |
4 |
|
9 |
Ready Player One |
$2,435,000 |
2,365 |
$1,030 |
$130,683,218 |
5 |
|
10 |
Traffik |
$1,620,000 |
1,046 |
$1,549 |
$6,752,274 |
2 |
John Krasinski’s horror film A Quiet Place dropped just 49% as it earned $10.7 million to bring its total to $148.2 million. This is a very solid hold in the face of extreme competition, and A Quiet Place looks like it might well surpass Jordan Peele’s Get Out, the surprise low budget horror hit of 2017.
Amy Schumer’s I Feel Pretty, with its appeal to female audiences, proved to be an excellent bit of counterprogramming as it dropped just 49.3%, adding $8.1 million to bring its two-week total to $29.6 million.
Everything else pretty much took it on the chin. The Rock-starring, video game-based Rampage from Warner Bros. plummeted 65% to $7.1 million, bringing its three week total to nearly $78 million. Hitting the $100 million mark domestically now appears difficult, but Rampage is doing better overseas where it has earned 76.7% of its $334.6 million.
Super Troopers 2 dropped a whopping 76.3% in its sophomore frame, while the Blumhouse micro-budgeted horror movie Truth or Dare fell 58.8%, Stephen Spielberg’s Ready, Player One plunged 67.2% and the urban thriller Traffik fell 58.9%.
Though next week’s release schedule is light, check back and see how Avengers: Infinity War is holding up. New films due next Friday include the horror/thriller Bad Samaritan, which is headed into 1,800 theaters, plus Jason Reitman’s Tully starring Charlize Theron, and a remake of the 1987 comedy Overboard starring Eugenio Derbez and Anna Ferris, both of which will get mid-size releases.
