Avengers: Infinity War shattered box office records in its opening weekend, with an estimated $250 million debut in the United States and Canada and $630 million worldwide.
Avengers: Infinity War bumps Star Wars: The Force Awakens off the top of its throne in terms of North America opening weekend earnings while also beating The Fate of the Furious for the biggest worldwide ticket sales. With these records under their belt, what's next for the Marvel Cinematic Universe?
Avengers: Infinity War Sets New Box Office Records
Avengers: Infinity War, with $250 million for its opening weekend in North America, narrowly toppled Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which booked $247.9 million. The movie also recorded the highest opening weekend globally at $630 million, and that is without being launched in China yet. China, the second-largest movie market in the world, will not experience Avengers: Infinity War until May 11.
"It's an extraordinary, extraordinary weekend," said Disney distribution chief Dave Hollis, and we could not argue with that.
Avengers: Infinity War was one of the largest films to have ever been assembled, with a production budget of almost $300 million. After 10 years and 18 films, the movie was expected to be the crowning achievement of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Disney initially rolled out a cautious forecast of only $210 million for the movie's opening weekend. Avengers: Infinity War greatly exceeded that target, and Disney now has eight of the top 10 largest domestic opening weekends of all time.
What's Next For The MCU?
Avengers: Infinity War was shot over an 18-month period, back-to-back with a sequel that will be released next summer. The movie, currently known as Avengers 4 as its official title has not yet been revealed, will pick up from the ending of Avengers: Infinity War.
There are two movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe before Avengers 4, though, namely Ant-Man and the Wasp and Captain Marvel. Both films are expected to be somehow connected to the plot of Avengers: Infinity War, as Ant-Man and the Wasp explore the quantum realm while the origin story of Captain Marvel is told.
The official title of Avengers 4 has not yet been revealed because the directors, the Russo brothers, want moviegoers to first allow the events of Avengers: Infinity War to sink in before thinking about what will happen in the next Avengers film. Whatever its title may be, Avengers 4 surely has a chance of beating its predecessor and setting new box office records when it launches on May 3, 2019.
