The Avengers assembled last weekend to defeat an opponent: the modern Hollywood record books.
Disney/Marvel's new superhero entry, Avengers: Endgame -- the 22nd movie in the 11-year-old Marvel Cinematic Universe -- benefited from a perfect confluence of factors to take the moviegoing world by storm and create a new set of benchmarks: It became the first film ever to top $1 billion in its opening, before adjusting for inflation.
Blowing past projections, Endgame grossed $350 million in North America and $1.2 billion worldwide, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Endgame immediately becomes the biggest movie of the year, too, topping Disney's setup movie, Captain Marvel, which has grossed $1.1 billion worldwide since its early March release. With the combined global take of $2.3 billion from those two movies, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is nearly a $20 billion franchise -- with Spider-Man: Far From Home still coming this summer.
Endgame is already a billion-dollar behemoth, largely because of an ideal culmination of long-cultivated worldwide interest, marketing might, positive critical reception (96 percent fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and virtually no competition. Plus, financially hurting theater owners eagerly turned thousands of screens over to Avengers to boost their bottom line. (The film had the widest North American release to date, with 4,662 screens.)
Worldwide, Endgame is already the sixth-biggest movie in the Marvel universe. It will set its longer-term sights on the Avengers film that preceded it -- last year's Infinity War, which grossed $2.05 billion worldwide (the first weekend total for Endgame is nearly double the worldwide debut of Infinity War).
Both films were guided by sibling directors Joe and Anthony Russo, with stars Robert Downey Jr., Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle and Josh Brolin leading the expansive cast.
Endgame helped the North American box office to a $397 million total weekend for all domestic releases -- shattering the previous record of $314 million, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
In one fell swoop, Endgame has already made more than movies like Skyfall, Aquaman and The Dark Knight Rises grossed in their entire runs, not accounting for inflation.
"We've got some really tired staff," said John Fithian, president and chief executive of the National Association of Theater Owners. "I talked to an exhibitor in Kansas who said, 'I've never sold out a 7 a.m. show on Saturday morning before,' and they were doing it all across their circuit."
For an industry dogged by uncertainty over the growing role of streaming, the weekend was a mammoth display of the movie theater's lucrative potency. Fithian called it possibly the most significant moment in the modern history of the movie business.
"We're looking at more than 30 million American and more than 100 million global guests that experienced Endgame on the big screen in one weekend," Fithian said. "The numbers are just staggering."
"Our partners in exhibition have done a great job with us on this film. As they saw the need, they opened up screens," said Cathleen Taft, distribution chief for Disney. "While there may have been a concern -- Is there going to be enough seats available? -- I think that exhibition met that demand and rose to the occasion."
"This has got to be the biggest weekend in popcorn history," said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore. "Think of the gallons of soda and the hot dogs sold. This is going to continue all week and beyond. This is going to have long-term playability for sure."
Benefiting from its franchise affiliation, Captain Marvel climbed back into the No. 2 spot in its eighth weekend, earning $8.1 million for a cumulative $413.6 million.
Though the weekend's total gross was a record $393.7 million, many films saw a steep decline from the previous week. In third place, Warner Bros.' The Curse of La Llorona added $7.5 million in its second weekend (a 72 percent drop) for a cumulative $41.3 million.
At No. 4, Fox's Breakthrough added $6.3 million (a modest 44 percent drop) in its second week for a cumulative $26.1 million.
Rounding out the top five, Warner Bros.' Shazam! added $5.5 million (a 66 percent drop) in its fourth weekend for a cumulative $131.1 million.
Universal's Little landed at No. 6 in its third weekend, adding $3.4 million for a cumulative $35.8 million.
Disney's Dumbo came in seventh, adding $3.2 million in its fifth weekend for a cumulative $107 million.
Paramount's Pet Sematary now in its fourth weekend, came in eighth, adding $1.3 million for a cumulative $52.6 million.
Universal's Us came in at No. 9, adding $1.1 million in its sixth weekend for a cumulative $172.8 million.
In 10th place, Disney Nature's Penguins added $1.1 million in its second weekend for a cumulative $5.7 million.
The primary specialty release was Sony Pictures Classics' Rudolf Nureyev drama The White Crow, directed by and starring Ralph Fiennes, which earned $80,675 in five locations for an average of $16,135.
This week, Briarcliff releases the drama El Chicano, Sony Screen Gems debuts the thriller The Intruder, Lionsgate opens the comedy Long Shot and STX Entertainment reveals the animation Uglydolls.
MovieStyle on 05/03/2019