Last week’s box office report was all about the dominance of Avengers: Infinity War, and the many records it won on its first outing. This week is about … pretty much the same story. On Saturday the Marvel/Movie blockbuster became the fastest movie ever to cross the one billion-dollar mark after just 11 days of release (it took Star Wars: The Force Awakens 12 days). It is now the 34th movie to join the billion-dollar club, with half of those titles belonging to Disney.
At the end of Sunday, Avengers had collected an extra $112.5 million domestically, for a total so far of $450 million. Internationally it added $162 million, for a total of $713.3 million. You add it all up and it is now close to $1.2 billion, not counting China where it will be opening this weekend. Infinity War did open in Russia however, and with $17.6 million it established a record for the country. The film has collected $69.1 million so far in Korea, $67.2 million in the UK, close to $50 million in Mexico and Brazil followed by India, Australia, France and Germany.
With over $80 million collected just out of IMAX theaters (the film was shot on IMAX cameras) and with China opening in a few days, the big question now is if the new Avengers will be able to join the $2 billion club, whose very exclusive roster is made up of just three titles: James Cameron’s Avatar ($2.8 billion) and Titanic ($2.2 billion) and Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($2.06 billion).
With Avengers pushing everybody else on the sidelines, there were actually other movies being shown in theaters worldwide. Dwayne Johnson’s Rampage got $13.7 million out of 63 markets, for an overseas total to $293 million and a global of $378. China alone accounts for over $150 million of this bounty, followed by Mexico ($12.4 million), the UK ($11.8 million), Korea ($11 million) and Malaysia ($7.2 million). Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One, another Warner Bros. film, grossed $6.3 million internationally, for a global total of $566.7 million. China, with $220 million, accounts for well over one third of that amount.
Back to the domestic market, three films had the temerity to open against Infinity Wars. Overboard, a romantic comedy starring Mexican star Eugenio Derbez and Anna Faris, grossed $14.8 million. No. 3 was the horror film A Quiet Place: It added $7.6 million, for a domestic total of $159.9 million (globally is at $255 million). Tully, starring Charlize Theron as a mother of three suffering of post-partum depression, was No. 7 with $3.2 million. The third new film to open was Bad Samaritan, that finished the weekend with a disappointing $1.8 million.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, instead, had tremendous success. Wait, that Ginsburg? The U.S. Supreme Court Justice? Yes, Magnolia and Participant Media have produced RBG, a documentary about the only member of the Supreme Court who has transcended into pop culture icon, a champion of women’s rights whose bespectacled face is emblazoned across t-shirts and coffee mugs. Looks like the viewing public appreciated, with $560,000 from 34 theaters for a very strong, and unexpected, per-screen average of over $16,000.
