‘Avengers: Infinity War’ Opens Thursday Night to Colossal $39 Million
After 10 years and 18 films, the highly-anticipated Avengers: Infinity War premiered to a massive $39 million in Thursday night preview showings. This made it the fourth-highest preview total in history, following behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2.
The preview total has skyrocketed above the previous high for a Marvel title set three years ago by Avengers: Age of Ultron with $27.6 million.
Avengers: Infinity War opens Friday in 4,474 theaters, making it the widest release for a Disney title ever, second only to Despicable Me 3 at 4,529. It’s predicted to open between $225 and $245 million.
The current biggest opening weekend of all time crown belongs to Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which bowed with $248 million in 2015 and continued on to make over $936.6 million domestically. Only five films in history have hit the $200 million in their debuts.
Infinity War takes place two years after the events of Captain America: Civil War, with multiple heroes teaming up to stop the nefarious Thanos from universal dominance. The jam-packed, star-studded cast includes Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), and Spider-Man (Tom Holland) – just to name a few.
Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeeley penned the script, with Joe and Anthony Russo in the directors’ chairs. Infinity War is the 19th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The original Avengers had the highest Marvel film opening to date with $207.4 million in 2012, and earned $623 million in North America. The sequel, Avengers: Age of Ultron, launched with $191 million and made $459 million.
Marvel’s ambitious crossover arrives just a couple months after Disney-Marvel’s Black Panther opened to a whopping $202 million domestically. It has topped $683 million in North America, granting it the third-highest domestic grosser of all time, behind only Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Avatar.
ComScore Senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian said Infinity War’s dominance is no surprise:
“Infinity War is an irresistible confection, a pure popcorn movie that boasts an unprecedented level of concentrated superhero star power that will deliver massive and enthusiastic crowds to multiplexes around the world and prove once again that the power and allure of the communal and immersive movie theater experience for which a film like this is tailor made, remains undeniable.”
Did you catch the movie Thursday night or will you be seeing it over the weekend? Let us know in the comments below!
Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War is now in theaters.
Source: Variety
