The films of summer 2018 pulled in $4.8 billion at the box office — the second biggest take of any summer. But the biggest winner, “Avengers: Infinity War,” had a very big head start.
Summer 2017 was the worst for movies in more than a decade. Analysts and movie theater execs predicted a big rebound, and they were right. But “Avengers: Infinity War” expanded the traditional summer movie season by opening on April 27, long before the traditional start of summer.
Summer box office usually covers the first weekend of May through Labor Day weekend. During that period, summer 2018 earned $4.38 billion — good enough for fifth place in the summer box office pantheon.
“Infinity War” had a May 4 release date before a confident Disney moved it up to April 27. The Marvel megahit had a record opening weekend of $257.6 million and pushed the industry-wide gross for its opening week to $415 million.
When that figure is included and compared against past summers with the last week of April added in, summer 2018 rises from fifth to second.
The record still belongs to 2013 — the year of “Iron Man 3” and “Despicable Me 2” — with $4.87 billion.
So how big is this summer compared to last year? Summer 2017 brought in a mere $3.77 billion, making last summer the first since 2006 to fail to crack $4 billion. Include the last week of April, and that figure only increases to $3.86 billion, meaning this summer saw a year-over-year increase of nearly 25 percent.
With four months to go in the year, the annual year-to-date grosses stand at $8.33 billion, making the 2018 box office the fastest ever to $8 billion. The fall and holiday box office season — which features films like “Halloween,” “A Star Is Born,” “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” and “Aquaman” — only need to make $3 billion to push the total past 2016’s record $11.3 billion annual gross.
'Avengers: Infinity War': Every Box Office Record It Broke on the Road to $2 Billion (Photos)
Marvel has kicked off the summer movie season with a bang many times over the years, but no bang has been bigger than the one set off by Thanos and "Avengers: Infinity War." Here are all the records the climactic film has set so far, with many more likely to come.
Marvel
Biggest domestic opening weekend of all-time: Since its release in December 2015: "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" has held many of the top domestic records. "Infinity War" has taken many of those records, starting with its opening weekend haul. The film earned $257.6 million in its North American launch, topping the $247.9 million made by J.J. Abrams' film. Date of record: April 29
Marvel
Biggest global opening weekend of all-time: "Infinity War" raked in an amazing $380 million overseas for a global total of $640.5 during its late-April first weekend, beating the record set by "Fate of the Furious" by nearly $100 million. And it did this despite the fact the film didn't launch in China until exactly two weeks later. The U.K. led the way with $42 million, closely followed by Korea with $39 million and Mexico with $25 million. Date of record: April 29
Marvel
Biggest domestic opening Saturday: Avengers earned $83 million on its first Saturday, shattering the previous record of $69.5 million made by "Jurassic World" in 2015. Date of record: April 28
Marvel
Biggest global superhero movie opening: It's not even a contest. The $640 million global start for "Infinity War" was 49 percent higher than the previous global launch record for a superhero film, which belonged to "Batman v Superman" with $422.5 million. It's also only $17 million less than the total worldwide box office made by "Justice League" in 2017. Date of record: April 29
Marvel
Sixth film with a $200 million-plus opening: The MCU now owns half of the six members of the $200 million club, with "Infinity War" joining its fellow 2018 sensation, "Black Panther" and the first "Avengers." "The Force Awakens," "Jurassic World," and "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" complete the group. MCU films now also make six of the top ten biggest domestic openings ever. Date of record: April 29
Marvel
Fastest film to $1 billion worldwide: "Infinity War" became the 34th film to hit the ten-digit mark in just 11 days, one day faster than "The Force Awakens." Date of record: May 5
Biggest global summer release: After four weeks in global theaters, "Infinity War" passed the $1.67 billion made by "Jurassic World" three years ago. Date of record: May 13
Seventh film to gross over $1 billion outside North America: The $1.34 billion international total for "Infinity War" sits third among all releases and is higher than the global total for recent megahits like "Black Panther" and "Star Wars: The Last Jedi." Other films that have grossed over $1 billion overseas include the last two "Fast & Furious" movies. Date of record: May 13
Highest opening weekend in China (U.S. Dollars): The $2 billion milestone became a fait accompli after "Infinity War" blew by all expectations for its opening weekend in China. The $200 million it made in its Middle Kingdom opener is the highest in Chinese box office history in U.S. dollars, and second in yuan behind "The Fate of the Furious," according to currency exchange rates. Date of record: May 13
Top 5 highest grossing domestic releases: Shortly before hitting $2 billion worldwide, "Infinity War" passed "Jurassic World" to enter the top five all-time domestic list with over $654 million. Date of record: June 10
Fourth film to gross $2 billion worldwide: Only three films before "Avengers: Infinity War" -- "Titanic," "Avatar," and "The Force Awakens" -- have hit this milestone in movie history. One of them needed two re-releases to do it, and all three were released in December. "Avengers: Infinity War," at the start of the busiest period on the blockbuster calendar, has now joined them. Date of record: June 12
1 of 12
Thanos shattered all sorts of records when he snapped his fingers
Marvel has kicked off the summer movie season with a bang many times over the years, but no bang has been bigger than the one set off by Thanos and "Avengers: Infinity War." Here are all the records the climactic film has set so far, with many more likely to come.
Marvel
Marvel
