Though the weekend is yet to begin in earnest, Avengers: Infinity War is well on its way to box office history.
Case in point: Deadline brings word that the Marvel mega-movie has already collected a whopping $39 million from 21 markets overseas, indicating that Joe and Anthony Russo’s Herculean crossover has a chance of reaching half a billion dollars by Sunday evening. Talk about hitting the ground running.
So far, Infinity War has opened to audiences in Australia, Korea, France, Italy and the Philippines, while the United Kingdom, Germany and 20 other international hubs are expected to open their arms to Earth’s Mightiest Heroes today, April 26th. Such a breathless, record-breaking opening has many analysts predicting a full offshore weekend bow between $256 million and $263 million, while the glass-half-full projections tell us that that figure may well climb to $275 million when all is said and done.
A more thorough breakdown confirms that Chris Hemsworth’s home country of Australia topped the international charts with $6.7 million and 77 percent of AU’s market share – only The Force Awakens has enjoyed a bigger opening day Down Under.
Korea marked a similarly historic opening day, where Avengers: Infinity War had a massive 95 percent market share to become the country’s most successful day-one in terms of tickets sold. Elsewhere, the Marvel threequel enjoyed the biggest ever April start in France, before blowing the doors off the Italian box office to become the biggest superhero and Disney start, well, ever.
All of this has naturally left North American viewers on tenterhooks as the clock nears midnight – just imagine the scenes if Marvel Studios had kept that original May 3rd release date – but given how the Mad Titan has scared just about everyone into silence, those still itching to see Avengers: Infinity War should be able to enjoy the experience without fearing any untimely spoilers.
Our advice? Stay on your toes and off the Internet!