Today’s the day, folks.
After one of the most aggressive promotional campaigns in Hollywood history, Avengers: Infinity War has touched down on America soil, where it’s already off to a flyer.
In fact, from Thursday screenings alone, the Marvel blockbuster collected around $45 million in box office receipts, indicating that Infinity War is now staring down the face of a truly historic opening weekend. A $225 million bow is said to be the current estimate for the U.S., which combines for a grand total of approximately $500 million (!) when accounting for Marvel’s markets overseas.
It’s an eye-watering sum by anyone’s standards, so it’ll be interesting to monitor Avengers: Infinity War and its box office performance as the weekend takes hold. One thing’s for sure: Marvel Studios has left no stone unturned while marketing the superhero epic, and today brings forth one final and indeed extended clip, courtesy of Jimmy Kimmel Live.
Truth be told, this fresh reel of footage contains much of the same content that was previewed earlier this month, as we see Steve Rogers and his small pool of Avengers descend on Wakanda, Marvel’s African utopia and the top-secret residence of Black Panther.
Indeed, it’s looking increasingly likely that Wakanda will play a major role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe henceforth, after studio chief Kevin Feige referred to T’Challa’s home as an “anchor point” for the entire franchise. So once Thanos has come and gone, and Marvel lifts the lid on its plans for Phase 4 (see: Spider-Man: Homecoming 2, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3), viewers can expect to circle back to the lush plains of Wakanda in time for Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther sequel.
Before all that though comes Avengers: Infinity War, and it’s now playing in most major territories as of today.
