“Avengers: Infinity War” continues to rule over the box office with an Infinity Gauntlet-clad fist, earning an estimated $112.5 million in its second weekend at the box office.
That’s a 56 percent drop from its record $257 million opening, consistent with other May Marvel releases like “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” and “Iron Man 3,” which have had drop-offs in the 55-60 percent range. Yet that is still good for the second-highest total made by a film in its second weekend, just beating the $111 million made by “Black Panther” three months ago. It’s now one of only five films ever to gross over $100 million domestically in its opening weekend.
“Avengers” now has an estimated 10-day domestic total of $450 million, becoming the second-fastest film to gross $400 million domestically. With another 13 days of business before it faces any serious blockbuster competition with the arrival of “Deadpool 2,” the crown jewel of the MCU is well on its way to making $700 million domestically, a mark only reached by “Avatar” and “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” without inflation adjustment.
On Saturday, “Avengers” reached $1 billion worldwide after just 11 days in theaters, beating the record held by “The Force Awakens” by a single day to become the fastest film to reach that mark. With a $275 million global weekend total, the film now has $1.16 billion worldwide, passing the global total of “Captain America: Civil War” and becoming one of the top 15 highest grossing films of all-time.
With this result, the lifetime gross for the Marvel Cinematic Universe crosses $16 billion worldwide.
Both “Force Awakens” and “Infinity War” were able to reach that mark without the help of China, but unlike “Star Wars,” the MCU has a strong following with Chinese audiences, with “Avengers: Age of Ultron” grossing $240 million in that country compared to a paltry $42.5 million for “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.” And like domestic audiences, “Avengers” will have blockbuster moviegoers overseas all to themselves until “Deadpool 2” begins its international rollout on May 15.
Put both those factors together, and you have an event film whose meteoric box office pace is not going to slow down for quite a while. Next weekend, “Infinity War” will likely pass the $1.5 billion made by the first “Avengers” to become one of the top five highest grossing movies of all-time without inflation adjustment. A global total of $1.75 billion is firmly within reach for this film, which would put it past “Jurassic World” for the No. 4 spot on the all-time charts.
Whether it can join “The Force Awakens,” “Avatar” and “Titanic” in the elite $2 billion club will depend on how it performs in later weeks, when it will have to share theaters with other anticipated films like “Deadpool 2” and “Solo,” as well as counter-programming blockbusters like “Ocean’s 8.”
While “Avengers” runs wild at the box office for now, some smaller films did enter theaters this week in targeted release. The most successful of them was Pantelion/MGM’s “Overboard,” which opened on 1,623 screens and grossed $14.7 million against a production budget in the low-teens.
The film was given a release date on Cinco de Mayo weekend to grab the attention of Mexican audiences, a demographic from which the film’s lead, Eugenio Derbez, has built his cult following. Disney’s decision to move “Infinity War”‘s domestic release up a week ended up being an advantage for “Overboard,” as it didn’t have to directly compete with a highly-anticipated blockbuster for their target demo’s attention.
That, combined with a marketing campaign aimed towards Derbez’s fans, “Overboard” has earned Pantelion its biggest opening weekend in studio history, beating the $12.2 million earned by “How to Be a Latin Lover,” also starring Derbez. Opening night crowds were 61 percent female and 83 percent over 25, giving it an A- on CinemaScore. The film opens in Mexico next weekend.
Also releasing this weekend and opening outside the top five are Focus Features’ “Tully” and Electric Entertainment’s “Bad Samaritan.” “Tully,” which stars Charlize Theron and is made by the director/writer team of Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody, made an estimated $3.2 million from 1,353 screens, slightly below tracker expectations of a $4 million start. “Bad Samaritan,” which is directed by Dean Devlin and is the first film distributed by Devlin’s Electric Entertainment, is looking at an opening of $1.75 million from 2,007 screens.
Paramount’s “A Quiet Place” came in third in its fifth weekend in theaters with $7.5 million, bringing its total to just under $160 million. That’s a better domestic result than any Paramount release from 2016 or 2017. STX’s “I Feel Pretty” added $4.9 million in its third weekend, giving it a total of $37.8 million. Warner Bros.’ “Rampage” completes the top five with $4.6 million in its fourth weekend for an $84.7 million total.