Day by day, we’re beginning to form a better understanding of Avengers: Infinity War and, in particular, how it’s performing at the box office – domestic and otherwise.
Overseas, the Marvel epic has been screening in countries like Australia and the Philippines since Wednesday, while the United Kingdom (and 20 other countries!) welcomed Earth’s Mightiest Heroes into theaters just yesterday. Much to the surprise of no one, Joe and Anthony Russo’s Herculean crossover is already doing gangbusters all across the world, but as this is April 27th, Infinity War has finally – finally! – reached North America. And let’s just say no other film would dare open nationwide this weekend.
That’s because Avengers: Infinity War notched $39 million from Thursday previews, far exceeding the previous MCU record-holder, Age of Ultron ($27.6M). Impressive though that may be, Marvel’s epic fell short of the true box office heavyweights – namely The Force Awakens ($57M), The Last Jedi ($45M) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 ($43.5M) – which tells us that some of those glass-half-full projections of $45M-plus for Thursday night were a little overblown.
Take nothing away from Avengers: Infinity War, though, as a $39M bow still marks a record high for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And that’s a phrase we fully expect to hear ten times over as the weekend unfurls.
Because while a handful of critics took issue with Infinity War‘s massive scope and CG villains – the Black Order, in particular, looked as though they walked out of a flashy cinematic for World of Warcraft – the overriding consensus is one of positivity, with particular praise being directed to the Russo Brothers for pulling off such an incredible feat.
