And so it begins. Though Avengers: Endgame hasn’t even come to the end of its first day in China theaters, Variety has already reported some phenomenal numbers that put the film on course to become the all-time highest-grossing Hollywood movie in the Middle Kingdom.
By 9pm local time Wednesday, the Avengers: Infinity War sequel had taken in a total of $102 million in the all-important China market. In light of this record-breaking figure, the movie is currently being forecast to gross a total of $521 million across its entire run in the region. This would comfortably beat the the $393 million record held by The Fate of the Furious for highest-grossing foreign film, though it would still fall short of the totals for local epics like Wolf Warrior II and Operation Red Sea.
Last year’s Avengers: Infinity War currently holds the all-time record for biggest China debut, grossing $191 million in its first three days. Endgame is now well on its way to passing that figure though, benefiting from a five-day opening frame. So far, the film has accounted for a staggering 99.2% of Wednesday ticket sales in the region, and is scheduled for a total of 258,000 screenings in its first 24 hours. These showtimes account for 83% of all theater screenings across the country in this period.
As you’ve likely heard, the movie is also expected to do very well for itself when it arrives in North America later this week, and the recent wave of positive reviews will surely only help matters. As it stands, analysts are estimating that Avengers: Endgame may even get as high as $300 million on its domestic opening weekend, but we’ll see if the film can match its generous projections when it arrives in theaters on April 26th.
