Avengers Endgame SMASHED box office record today – Biggest film of all time?

Avengers Endgame is on course to smash every single box office record. It hasn’t even opened yet in much of the world, but one of the biggest territories just posted spectacular opening day figures. Suddenly it is looking like Avengers 4 could take an unheard of $1billion on its opening weekend. This comfortably puts the Marvel movie on the way to finally toppling Avatar as the biggest film of all time. 

Until now, Avatar reigned supreme on $2.788 billion, followed by Titanic on $2.187 billion. When Star Wars The Force Awakens smashed its way to $2.068 billion worldwide, it looked set to be the king of the modern cinema era, although Infinity War squeaked up very close last year with a $2.048 billion haul.

There is one huge difference between the release of Infinity War and Endgame, however.

China is fast-becoming the second-biggest box office for Hollywood films but traditionally shows them weeks after they debut around the world. Not this time, when China went first today, along with France, Germany, Singapore, Korea and Australia.

The opening day totals in China are looking enormous, at $107 million, a massive new record there for any film, foreign or local.

China’s largest movie ticketing app Maoyan has announced an estimated RMB 3.58 billion or $533 million final total for Endgame (renminbi is the official currency of the People’s Republic of China.)

For perspective, Infinity War finished on $359million in China. This ties in with a growing belief that Endgame will comfortably eclipse Infinity War’s already impressive haul in most global markets.

According to Deadline, the latest worldwide estimates for Endgame put it at $940-950 million. A billion-plus bonanza is not looking impossible.

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One of the main obstacles is the lengthy runtime of three hours, which means one less screening per day. Cinemas are compensating by allocating extra screens where possible, but this looks like the only real impediment to record-breaking results. 

Even so, UK bookies are already starting to predict Endgame will become the biggest film of all time.

Betway’s said: “We expect it to smash all box office records. We are just 4/6 that by the end of 2019, it beats Avatar’s 10-year record and becomes the highest-grossing film of all time. The superhero spectacular looks a shoo-in to be the highest-grossing movie at the UK box office this year at 2/5, with the ninth Star Wars and The Lion King next best at 4/1.”

The final Star Wars movie won’t be able to compete globally for the same reason – China. The franchise has never enjoyed major success there, The Force Awakens only took £124million total and The Last Jedi plummetted to $42million.

On a final note, all figures, of course, are purely based on revenues and not adjusted for inflation. Even if Endgame takes the most money of any film in history, it could never catch the all-time titans like Gone With The Wind, The Sound of Music or the original Star Wars.