2018 has been an unbelievable year at the box office, and we’re just now approaching the halfway point. Thus far, we’ve seen a pair of films enter the all-time worldwide gross top ten in the form of Black Panther ($1.34B) and Avengers: Infinity War ($1.97). The latter, having earned an unprecedented $250 million-plus stateside opening weekend, subsequently became the fastest film to reach the $1 billion plateau as well.
Incredibly, however, the Anthony and Joe Russo-directed blockbuster is once again teetering on the precipice of making cinematic history. Late last week, we learned that the third Avengers installment is expected to handily hit the $2 billion mark by month’s end, a feat only ever achieved thrice before: Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($2.068B), Titanic ($2.187B), and Avatar ($2.788).
Early on, it wasn’t a foregone conclusion that Infinity War would top the elusive figure, but with Deadline now announcing that the Age of Ultron follow-up has been granted a rare thirty-day extended release in China, the nineteenth MCU entry should get there without any issue. This is the third recent extension of a Disney title in the Middle Kingdom, too, following Zootopia in 2016 and Coco in 2017.
Considering that the domestic total for Infinity War stands at $642.8 million, it’s baffling to think that it won’t best Black Panther ($699 million) stateside, yet will still eclipse $2 billion early next week, at least according to estimates. The Ryan Coogler-helmed smash never had a chance of reaching the ticket booth pinnacle, but performed astoundingly, nonetheless.
With the endgame in sight then, Avengers: Infinity War will have to pull out all the stops, as it’ll face stiff competition in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, opening June 15, and Disney/Pixar’s Incredibles 2, opening June 22. Still, as we said above, the film should have no trouble reaching $2 billion, at the very least, even if its box office business is beginning to wind down now.
