Weekend Box Office (April 27 - 29, 2018)

by Gitesh Pandya

THIS WEEKEND Worldwide anticipation for the arrival of Thanos led to records being crushed as Marvel's ultimate team-up film Avengers: Infinity War broke the all-time industry records for the largest domestic and global opening weekends ever. Studio estimates put the North American bow at a colossal $250M. If that holds, it will beat the current record of $248M set in December 2015 by Star Wars: The Force Awakens which was fueled by three decades of fan excitement to see beloved heroes on the big screen again.

Infinity War had excitement of its own. This weekend's debut easily beat the $207.4M of the first Avengers from 2012 and the $191.3M of the 2015 sequel Age of Ultron. February's Black Panther, which opened to $202M ahead of a leggy run that has delivered $688M and counting, certainly helped to broaden the fan base for the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the new Avengers benefited as it also features the next appearance by T'Challa.

Disney generated a colossal $55,878 average from 4,474 theaters for the PG-13 adventure which boasted the longest running time of any movie in the 19-film MCU franchise. Many box office records were broken. Aside from the weekend mark, Infinity War posted the best Saturday and Sunday daily grosses of any film ever. The run kicked off with a stunning $106M for opening day Friday including $39M from Thursday night pre-shows starting at 7:00pm. That was the second best all-time after the $119.1M of Force Awakens. Saturday dropped 22% to $83M which easily beat the old record of $69.6M by both Jurassic World and the original Avengers. Disney is estimating a 27% drop on Sunday to $61M which would edge out the $60.6M of Force Awakens for a new high.

Reviews were very strong and audiences polled by CinemaScore gave an A grade which is common for the franchise. Studio data showed that the crowd was 58% male and 58% over 25 and the 2D/3D split was 74/26. Infinity War was originally scheduled to open in North America next weekend, but the studio moved the date earlier by a week to open in line with most of the international market. Disney has completely dominated the domestic marketplace accounting for nine of the top ten opening weekends of all-time.

Worldwide, the new Avengers amassed a record-breaking $630M on opening weekend which is the highest in history, and the feat is especially impressive given that China was not part of the first round of markets this weekend. Overseas markets contributed a massive $380M this weekend with leading markets being the U.K. at $42.2M, Korea at $39.2M, Mexico with $25.1M, and Australia at $23M. Look for the one billion mark to be shattered in the second weekend of play with plenty more to come. Russia launches next weekend while China debuts a week after on May 11.

The 19 films from the MCU have now generated a jaw-dropping $15.4 billion at the global box office over the past ten years. The bulletproof brand continues with Ant-Man and the Wasp this July, Captain Marvel next March, and of course the next Avengers movie which is scheduled to arrive a year from now on the first weekend of May giving fans a possible conclusion to the story that unfolds in Infinity War.

Add up the ticket sales for all of the rest of the films in wide release, add an extra $200M to that, and it still would not match what Avengers grossed this weekend. Leading all the holdovers were a pair of female-skewing movies which managed to drop by just under one half - commendable for a weekend that features such a monster opening.

Horror hit A Quiet Place declined by 49% to an estimated $10.7M boosting Paramount's cume to a stellar $148.2M. Worldwide stands at $235.4M now as the $17M-budgeted film hopes to reach $300M. Amy Schumer's latest comedy I Feel Pretty had a 49% sophomore slide to an estimated $8.1M giving STX $29.6M overall.

In fourth place was Rampage which got knocked down big time by 65% to an estimated $7.1M putting Warner Bros. at $77.9M domestic and $334.6M worldwide.

There was talk earlier that Black Panther had a shot at staying in the Top 10 when Infinity War opened. But the T'Challa hit remarkably finished in the top five! The year's biggest blockbuster dipped only 11% in its 11th weekend, thanks in part to double features Disney had with the new Avengers which is a common practice with big films. Panther grossed an estimated $4.4M which was good enough for fifth place lifting the domestic cume to $688M. It also passed Star Wars: The Last Jedi to take the number nine spot among all-time global blockbusters with an eye-popping $1.33 billion.

The comedy sequel Super Troopers 2 suffered the worst fall in the top ten stumbling 76% in its sophomore frame to an estimated $3.6M. The Fox release has taken in $22.1M. Universal followed with a pair of films. The micro-budget horror pic Truth or Dare did an estimated $3.2M, off 59%, for a new cume of $35.3M. Comedy offering Blockers fell 57% to an estimated $3M with $53.2M overall.

With action titles tumbling in the wake of the arrival of Thanos, Steven Spielberg's Ready Player One dropped a sharp 67% and grossed an estimated $2.4M giving Warner Bros. $130.7M to date. Global rose to $545.1M. Rounding out the top ten was Lionsgate's Traffik with an estimated $1.6M, down 59%, and $6.8M so far.

The top ten films grossed an estimated $294.1M this weekend which was up a staggering 264% from last year when The Fate of the Furious stayed at number one with $19.9M; and up 203% from 2016 when The Jungle Book remained in the top spot with $43.7M. Neither of those were the summer kickoff frame.

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Watch the trailer for Deadpool 2.

Compared to projections, Avengers went higher than my $235M forecast.

Be sure to check back on Thursday for a complete summary, including projections, for next weekend when Tully and Overboard open.

# Title Apr. 27 - 29 Apr. 20 - 22 % Chg. Theaters Weeks AVG Cumulative Distributor
1 Avengers: Infinity War $ 257,698,183 4,474 1 $ 57,599 $ 257,698,183 Disney
2 A Quiet Place 11,004,977 20,911,809 -47.4 3,565 4 3,087 148,528,278 Paramount
3 I Feel Pretty 8,176,757 16,030,218 -49.0 3,440 2 2,377 29,620,318 STX
4 Rampage 7,205,315 20,094,294 -64.1 3,508 3 2,054 78,030,872 Warner Bros.
5 Black Panther 4,736,428 4,932,627 -4.0 1,650 11 2,871 688,364,917 Disney
6 Super Troopers 2 3,729,287 15,181,624 -75.4 2,125 2 1,755 22,214,216 Fox
7 Truth or Dare 3,268,145 7,793,425 -58.1 2,420 3 1,350 35,374,140 Universal
8 Blockers 2,975,260 6,835,145 -56.5 2,324 4 1,280 53,246,750 Universal
9 Ready Player One 2,563,325 7,418,738 -65.4 2,365 5 1,084 130,811,543 Warner Bros.
10 Traffik 1,654,694 3,941,338 -58.0 1,046 2 1,582 6,786,968 Lionsgate
11 Isle of Dogs 1,427,275 3,461,633 -58.8 1,001 6 1,426 27,047,998 Fox Searchlight
12 A Wrinkle in Time 981,856 731,702 34.2 371 8 2,647 94,930,902 Disney
13 I Can Only Imagine 777,709 2,428,761 -68.0 970 7 802 81,084,294 Roadside Attr.
14 Chappaquiddick 694,989 1,834,181 -62.1 704 4 987 15,808,830 Ent. Studios
15 Sherlock Gnomes 673,943 1,417,592 -52.5 731 6 922 40,637,943 Paramount
16 Acrimony 640,477 1,965,529 -67.4 540 5 1,186 42,223,020 Lionsgate
17 Bharat Ane Nenu 371,000 2,485,000 -85.1 185 2 2,005 3,150,000 Great India
18 You Were Never Really Here 350,105 511,110 -31.5 233 4 1,503 1,793,480 Amazon
19 The Miracle Season 290,939 1,123,854 -74.1 430 4 677 9,441,585 LD
20 Beirut 271,252 1,001,910 -72.9 237 3 1,145 4,542,141 Bleecker St.
Top 5 $ 288,821,660 $ 80,011,370 261.0
Top 10 303,012,371 106,600,851 184.2
Top 20 309,491,916 120,753,605 156.3
Top 20 vs. 2017 309,491,916 94,494,670 227.5

Last Updated: April 29, 2018 at 2:15PM ET

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