It’s no secret at this point that a whole lot of people are going to seeAvengers: Endgameon opening weekend. But just how high is this one going to fly? We’re just a few weeks out from what is quite arguably the biggest movie of the year, which means box office tracking and predictions are starting to roll in from analysts and others within the industry. The movie already had a great shot at breaking the all time opening weekend record, but now some believe Marvel’s latest could make as much as $300 million during its debut.
Before digging into how possible that might be, it’s best if everyone understands just how absolutely insane thatbox officenumber actually is. Just for the sake of comparison, the current record holder isInfinity War, which debuted with a $257.6 million opening weekend last April. That bested the previous record, which was held byStar Wars: The Force Awakens($248 million). And mind you, this is just domestic.Shazam(which, granted, has a substantially smaller production budget), just made $159 million worldwide in its debut, including $56.8 million domestic, and that was considered a very solid success.
Point being, the fact that we’re even talking about a $300 million figure being possible is unreal. But could this really happen? Early tracking pegged the movie anywhere between $200 and $250 million. However, pre-sale tickets went online last week and therecord for sales in the first 24 hours was absolutely shatteredby a wide margin. That pushed certain analysts to believe the number could climb as high as $280 million. So, it’s not terribly outlandish that certain, more bullish individuals in the industry see $300 million as a strong possibility.
If any movie can do it, it’s likelyAvengers: Endgame. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has done nothing but go up in value pretty much ever since it launched.Captain Marvelrecently crossed the $1 billion mark globally, for example. And this movie is going to be a direct sequel toInfinity War, which willresolve one of the biggest cliffhangers ever. There are, however, two big potential things standing in the way of this record;Game of Thronesand, in a way, the movie itself.
The final season ofGame of Throneswill be airing its third episode that Sunday night. That will certainly attract a large audience and may take away some potential viewership. The other issue, as it relates to this record, isthe movie’s runtime, which clocks in at 3 hours and 2 minutes. That means theaters can fit in fewer screenings in a given day. Granted, Disney can just increase the theater count in many locations, but that’s still something to consider.
Either way, since the movie is opening up in many key markets, including China, on the same weekend, it’s looking at a debut of $800 million or more globally, which would shatter the previous record held byInfinity War($640.5 million). If critics and fans respond well, Marvel can start to pop the champagne early on this one. This news was previously reported by The Hollywood Reporter.
