Overall business rocketed ahead of this same weekend last year by 214%, which had Fate of the Furious remain at #1 for a third-straight week with $19.9 million. With $313.7 million altogether for the weekend, this edged out December 18-20, 2015 to become the biggest-grossing weekend of all-time for movies.
Of course, none of this would have been possible without a record-shattering debut. Like the first Avengers six years ago, Avengers: Infinity War took the weekend box office record. With 10 years of movie build-up, the culmination of the MCU's storytelling resulted in $257.7 million, eclipsing Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($247.9 million) for the biggest opening weekend (unadjusted) ever in the history of movies. The per-venue average was an incredible $57,599 (second to Force Awakens' near $60,000 average among wide releases) from 4,474 theaters (second-widest release behind Despicable Me 3's 4,529 locations). The film also had the second-biggest opening Friday ($106.3 million), fourth-largest Thursday preview showing ($39 million), the biggest Saturday gross ever ($82.1 million) and the largest Sunday gross on record ($69.2 million). Truly, this movie was a game-changing event for audiences, and they came out in droves. Unadjusted for inflation, of course, its' not quite the most-attended opening weekend ever. But, its' still as shocking a debut as the movie itself is at times.
How was Marvel able to beat back the (somewhat) fatigue that it had pulled in over the past few years? Through changing the ballgame, of course. Bringing in the popular Guardians of the Galaxy to this one plus the promise of fulfilling an unfinished plotline in the first Avengers (Thanos did appear for a brief second) immediately sparked attention. True, Avengers: Age of Ultron and Captain America: Civil War were huge success stories, but they only wound up around 2/3 of the first Avengers' domestic gross. Black Panther's unexpected blockbuster success back in February (and still in the list) also helped fuel the excitement and anticipation.
The film also continues to cement distributor Disney's dominance over the box office scene. The Mouse House now owns 9 of the Top 10 biggest openings of all-time (with only Universal's Jurassic World's $208.8 million the only non-Disney film in the list at #4). The powerhouse studio will only get stronger in the coming years with 20th Century Fox likely to be acquired by them in the next year. Disney doesn't look like they will loosen their strong grip for the rest of 2018, as Lucasfilm's Solo: A Star Wars Story (May 25) and Pixar's The Incredibles 2 (June 15) are both likely to be smash hits as well. Marvel also has another film on dock in July, their sequel Ant-Man and the Wasp (July 6).
Overseas, Infinity War broke even more records. It pulled in the biggest gross ever worldwide on opening weekend at $640.2 million in just three days of release. It seems likely that the third installment will be the fastest to reach $1 billion worldwide, with the barrier likely to fall around Friday at this pace. There are a couple of interesting notes here, however. First, this was all without China (which doesn't open the film until mid-May). Second, the strict overseas gross of $380 million over the weekend actually ranks second to Fate of the Furious' mind-blowing $443 million overseas debut (though that was bolstered by debuting in China the same day as the U.S.).
As for playability, of course the film will be front-loaded. However, the film had a stronger-than-expected multiple over the weekend (around 2.5 from Friday-to-Sunday). Audiences gave it an "A" CinemaScore, while reviews were very good (84% on Rotten Tomatoes, though not the strongest in the MCU). The film has clear sailing in terms of competition until Deadpool 2 opens May 18 (though that one will be aiming for older comic book fans). In the end, I would not be surprised if Infinity War winds up above $600 million stateside. If it plays well in the coming weeks, it could reach $700 million or higher. Don't expect it to play as well as Force Awakens, however. That one benefited from Christmas break on its way to the current domestic benchmark of $933 million (ranks as the 11th-most attended movie in history).
Overseas, the film should easily reach the $1 billion mark by the end of this week, breaking yet another record. As far as how high it could make it, it will all depend on how China plays and how it holds. I'd say $1.5 billion is a safe bet, but anything higher than that is difficult to guess at this time. In the end, however, regardless, its' still a massive moneymaker for all involved. Infinity War cost an estimated $300 million to make, one of the most expensive movies ever made (3rd behind two of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies). Disney was projecting a $210 million debut, but their expectations were revised upwards as the weekend continued.
Ultimately, Infinity War accounted for a massive 82.1% of the box office gross this weekend, leaving little room for the rest of the Top 10. But there were other movies too.
After spending its third weekend at #1, A Quiet Place fell back to the second spot and held actually pretty decently. The horror hit was off 47% to $11 million, for a strong $148.5 million pick-up in 24 days. At its current pace, John Krasinski's directorial debut is likely to finish around $170 million stateside, in line with last year's horror smash Get Out ($176 million). After its decent debut last weekend, I Feel Pretty was down 49% to $8.2 million. Amy Schumer's latest is at a modest $29.6 million pick-up in 10 days.
Taking one of the hardest hits of the list was Rampage. Dwayne Johnson's video game epic was down 64% in its third weekend to $7.2 million, for a moderate $78 million gross in 17 days. That's not a great result, as the film may now miss the $100 million mark stateside. However, it is faring better overseas, with $335 million worldwide so far with Japan still to open.
The movie that had the biggest benefit, however, was Black Panther. The MCU's previous hit benefited from double-features with Infinity War, and as a result, jumped up to fifth place in its eleventh weekend. The hit was off just 4% to $4.7 million, for a phenomenal $688.4 million gross in 77 days. Panther also passed Star Wars: The Last Jedi for ninth place on the all-time list worldwide with $1.33 billion.
Following its surprisingly huge debut last weekend, it became clear that the target audience already showed up in droves for Super Troopers 2. The sequel to the cult hit took a freefall of 75% in its second weekend to $3.7 million. However, $22.2 million in 10 days is still way more than anyone anticipated (and ahead of the first Super Trooper's $18.5 million domestic final gross). Truth or Dare fared better, but still fell 58% to $3.3 million. Blumhouse's latest has earned $35.4 million, or over 10 times its puny $3.5 million budget. It doesn't have much more to go, but its still a success story.
Fellow Universal film Blockers followed with a 57% decline in its fourth frame to $3 million. The R-rated comedy starring John Cena has pulled in a solid $53.2 million in 24 days. Similar to Rampage, Ready Player One was badly affected by earth's mightiest heroes. Steven Spielberg's latest was down 65% to $2.6 million, for a decent $130.8 million pick-up in one month of release. Of course, the book adaptation is doing great overseas, with the worldwide gross about to pass $550 million.
Rounding out the Top 10 in its second weekend was the indie thriller Traffik, which fell 58% to $1.7 million. The Lionsgate release has earned a forgettable $6.8 million in 10 days, where it will likely not reach double-digits.
That's about it. Next weekend, the summer season would usually begin. But alas, it gets earlier all the time. So three minor releases are set to debut, led by the remake of the 80's film Overboard. Action flick Bad Samaritan and Charlize Theron's latest Tully also are set to debut. Of course, Infinity War will remain on top, but how hard it will drop is currently anyone's guess. I will have a review up for Infinity War by the end of tomorrow. :)
