Marvel’s “Avengers: Endgame” earned a whopping $60 million in its Thursday night preview screenings, making it the biggest Thursday night opening at the box office of all time. Screenings started at 6 p.m. and continued in some theaters through all hours of the night and early morning.
“Endgame’s” box office previews flew past the Thursday total for “Avengers: Infinity War,” which earned $39 million and was previously the highest preview amount for any MCU film. “Endgame” also surpassed “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” ($57 million), “Star Wars: The Last Jedi “($45 million), and “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2” ($43.5 million), which previously held the top three spots. Other Marvel titles “Captain America: Civil War” earned $25 million in previews, while “Black Panther” grossed $25.2 million.
It’s exactly the start you want to see for a movie with its sights set on potentially a $1 billion opening weekend. “Endgame” set records for a Hollywood film in China on its opening night on Tuesday, bringing in $107.5 million for a global total after two days that as of Friday sits at $305.5 million.
The initial projections for “Endgame” domestically were just $270 million, which would still be an all-time record, but “Endgame” is expected to leave the high bar set by “Infinity War,” a $257.6 million domestic opening and a $640 million global launch, in the dust.
It could get to that $1 billion mark, in part because word of mouth in China has also reached unprecedented levels. On ticketing website Maoyan, the film has a score of 9.3/10, the highest ever for a Marvel movie. Such strong reception has been matched in the U.S., where “Endgame” has a “Certified Fresh” rating of 96% on Rotten Tomatoes. Only “Black Panther” has managed a higher Rotten Tomatoes score with a 97% grade.
Across the globe, here’s a list of all the territories “Endgame’ has already set records for the highest all-time industry single day: China (incl. midnights), Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, The Philippines, Korea (admissions), U.K., Brazil, Egypt, Panama, Peru, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Paraguay, Trinidad and Uruguay.
It has also registered the highest all-time industry opening day in Indonesia, Malaysia, Netherlands, Greece, Portugal, Bosnia/Herz, Czech Rep, Serbia (non-local), Slovakia, Turkey and Ukraine.
In addition to its North American debut, “Endgame” opens in Mexico, Spain, India, Japan, South Africa, Vietnam, Venezuela and Ecuador. The only market it is not opening in this weekend is Russia (Apr. 29).
“Avengers: Endgame” is the 22nd film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the epic conclusion to the studio’s Phase Three, in which the Avengers battle the evil alien warlord Thanos after the events of “Avengers: Infinity War” left half of the universe’s population disintegrated into clouds of dust. Anthony and Joe Russo direct the film that stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Paul Rudd and Josh Brolin as Thanos.
Domestically, “Avengers: Endgame” opens Friday in over 4,662 theaters, including over 3,900 3D locations, 410 IMAX screens, 785 premium large format screens and 250 D-Box/4D locations.