Friday, March 29, 2024

Marvel's Avengers: Endgame to set all-time box office record

Marvel's Avengers: Endgame to set all-time box office record
July 21, 2019
SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - Marvel Studios superhero movie “Avengers: Endgame” will claim the top of the global box office charts by Sunday, distributor Walt Disney Co said. “Endgame” ticket sales will overtake the $2.789 billion collected worldwide by James Cameron’s 2009 science-fiction epic “Avatar,” Disney said in a statement released on Saturday as it presented a new slate of films to fans at San Diego Comic-Con. “Endgame,” released in theaters in April, is the culmination of a story told in 22 Marvel films that have drawn crowds to cinemas for a decade. The movie stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson and others as a group of superheroes battling the villain Thanos, played by Josh Brolin.
Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige told fans at Comic-Con that “Endgame” was poised to reach the box office milestone. He also said “Endgame” probably would eventually lose the title to Cameron’s next film. Cameron is scheduled to release four “Avatar” sequels starting in December 2021. Disney this year acquired the “Avatar” franchise with its purchase of film and TV assets from Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox. Earlier on April 29, superhero movie “Avengers: Endgame” smashed box office records with global ticket sales estimated at $1.2 billion through, distributor Walt Disney Co said. “Endgame” generated a jaw-dropping $350 million in the United States and Canada, the world’s largest movie market. The total far surpassed analyst estimates and the previous record of $257.7 million set a year ago by “Avengers: Infinity War.” Disney’s latest blockbuster has smashed box office records, pulling in an astonishing $1.2 billion globally in its opening weekend. It’s the eighth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to cross the billion-dollar mark, and it’s the fastest any film has ever earned that much. The film topped “The Force Awakens” opening day record from 2015 with a $305 million global box office on Thursday (it pulled in $60 million in the US), and went on to earn around $300 million in the US over the course of the weekend.