Ever since they went on sale last month – March 16th, to be specific – Avengers: Infinity War has completely obliterated AMC ticket records. And we do mean obliterate.
Everyone knew that this movie was going to be big, there was never any doubt about that. It is, after all, the culmination of 10 years of one of the most beloved franchises to ever grace the silver screen. But earlier this week we learned that the event movie to end all event movies is actually selling more tickets than the last seven Marvel films combined. Yes, if ever there was proof that this pic is in a league of its own when it comes to pre-release buzz and excitement, this is it.
As such, box office projections have now been adjusted and analysts believe Infinity War could open to a whopping $235 million (up from the original $200 million), with the potential to hit $255 million should reviews and word of mouth turn out to be strong – which they no doubt will be.
Here’s how Box Office Pro put it in their report:
Infinity War is redefining the ceiling of pre-release buzz for the superhero genre. Following last week’s increase in tracking projections, Fandango reported a few days ago that the massively anticipated semi-finale to the last ten years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is outselling all MCU titles (dating back to 2015’s Ant-Man) combined through the same point in the pre-sales cycle.
Our own social media metrics continue to reach new heights for the genre, with Twitter activity notably performing 129 percent higher than Captain America: Civil War and 52 percent higher than Avengers: Age of Ultron at comparable points in the pre-release cycle. Outside the MCU, Infinity War is well ahead of Star Wars: The Last Jedi and approaching levels similar to those of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The Marvel epic’s chances at reaching that latter film’s all-time opening weekend record of $247.97 million are increasingly possible based on current trends.
Something working in Infinity War’s favor is that it’s such a big film that it’s scared off most of its competition, with three clear weeks before the release of Deadpool 2 on May 18th (its R rating also means that it’s not in direct competition with Avengers 3 for family audiences). That Black Panther succeeded beyond all projections should give the film a boost, too, with Marvel Studios pushing T’Challa and Wakanda pretty hard in the marketing and no doubt hoping that the audiences who flocked to that will turn up to this.
With still two weeks to go before release, the numbers for Avengers: Infinity War could still be adjusted, but no matter what analysts end off with in regards to their predictions, it’s becoming pretty clear that this will be the film to beat in 2018.
