At $1.25 billion and counting, Avengers: Infinity War has been crowned king of the global box office. And that’s before we even factor China into the equation.
The Middle Kingdom is set to swing its doors open to Marvel’s tentpole today, May 11th, where we fully expect Infinity War to surpass – or, at the very least, match – Age of Ultron‘s massive $240M haul in what is essentially the world’s second-biggest movie market.
Back in North America, the forecasts are just as incredible. Case in point: Variety predicts that Avengers: Infinity War will notch anywhere between $50M and $60M during its third weekend at the domestic box office, which is more than some blockbuster films make in their first. That figure should be enough for Joe and Anthony Russo’s Herculean comic book movie to enter the all-time top 10 in North America – presumably at the expense of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast ($504M) – and rub shoulders with The Dark Knight ($534M).
Overseas, China will undoubtedly prove instrumental in the sequel’s journey toward $1.8 billion. As a matter of fact, earlier this week we learned that Infinity War had already set a new record in the Middle Kingdom thanks to $47.5M (RMB 302 million) in presales, easily surpassing The Fate of the Furious‘ own total of $25 million (RMB 158 million).
All in all, box office analysts now expect Avengers: Infinity War to tap out at around $1.8 billion – just shy of that elusive $2 billion milestone that has so far remained exclusive to holiday films, such as Avatar, Titanic and Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
But take nothing away from Marvel’s achievement, as the back-to-back success of Black Panther ($1.3 billion) and Infinity War has pushed the MCU to dizzying new heights.