Image via Marvel
Marvel's latest opus, Avengers: Endgame, is arguably the biggest pop culture event of 2019—and this includes a year in which Game of Thrones comes to an end. The culmination of the first 10 years (and three Phases) of the never-ending story, this three-hour film is said to help close a particular chapter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. No spoilers, but it's set to do very well at the box office. The question is, how well will it do?
It's extremely fair to say that this film will own the box office during its opening weekend, but how long will it dominate theaters? Should other films tuck their April/May in to allow for Iron Man and company to demolish the landscape? That won't happen, but the box office WILL be decimated (no snap), and we'll be here to track just how well it does.
Similar to our look at Black Panther's impressive record-breaking run, here's a look at all of the records Avengers: Endgame has broken, which will be regularly updated after every new broken record.
Most Viewed Movie Trailer on YouTube in 24 Hours (Twice)
On Dec. 7, 2018, Marvel Studios finally unleashed the first look at Avengers: Endgame, which included the big reveal of the film's title at the end. Released one month after the trailer for Disney's The Lion King (which itself netted 224.6 million views during its first 24 hours), the Endgame trailer grabbed an insane 289 million views during its first 24 hours, easily putting it in the No. 1 spot.
The following March, Marvel dropped the second Endgame trailer, which currently sits at No. 2 with 268 million views during its first 24 hours of being on YouTube.
What's wild is the third spot on that list is held by Avengers: Infinity War; the first trailer did 230 million views during its first 24 hours.
Pre-Sale Tickets
With anticipation for this movie at a fever pitch, Marvel dropped the pre-sale for tickets on April 2. While no concrete numbers are out, Fandango said that Endgame became the title with the biggest pre-sale ever in its first 24 hours, although it beat that mark in the first six hours it was on sale.
Pre-sales estimates are in the $120-$140 million range, which would beat Star Wars: The Force Awakens' $100 million pre-sale estimate.
'Endgame' Shattering Chinese Box Office Records
While Endgame doesn't hit domestic screens until April 26, it premiered in China on April 23, and became a surefire hit to the tune of pulling in $102 million at the Chinese box office, according to Variety. That was enough to push Endgame into the top spot at the Chinese box office, beating out Monster Hunt 2 for the title of highest grossing opening day for a film. It also beat Monster Hunt 2 in the Chinese pre-sale tickets department, with its $110 million in pre-sale tickets sold beating out the previous record of $59.2 million. Based on how it's performing already, Endgame could become the top-performing foreign film ever and the fourth-highest-grossing film of all time in China.
Largest Thursday Preview Box Office
Deadline has reported that Endgame shattered the record for Thursday preview gross with $60 million being taken in at the domestic box office. That beats Star Wars: The Force Awakens' $57 million Thrusday night box office, set in 2015. The outlet also says that over half of The Force Awakens' Friday night box office numbers came from the Thursday preview numbers, so the thought is that Endgame could shatter The Force Awakens' opening weekend numbers a swell.
Fastest Film to Hit $100 Million at Box Office
The hits just keep on coming. Endgame beat another The Force Awakens record, becoming the fastest film to make $100 million at the box office. What's even more exciting is that it took Endgame only 17 hours to do it, while Force Awakens took 21 hours.
Some of this might be luck; Deadline noted that a number of schools are on spring break, which gave young fans all kinds of time during the day to check out Endgame instead of other times of the year, where they might not be able to see the film until after school's out.
Highest Opening Day of All Time
After a massive open in China and strong Thursday previews, Endgame grabbed the highest opening day of all time, raking in an insane $156.7 million at the domestic box office. This marks another record Endgame has taken from The Force Awakens, which previously held the record with $119 million on its opening day.
First Film to Make $1 Billion During Opening Weekend
To the surprise of no one, Endgame's opening is historic. While it's the eighth Marvel Studios film to surpass the $1 billion mark at the box office (and the second to do so this year, after Captain Marvel's impressive return), it's the first film ever to do so during its opening weekend., with its $1.2 billion dollars made at the global box office being announced Sunday morning. While Avengers: Infinity War took 11 days to reach this feat, Endgame did so in five.
Disney released a statement early Sunday regarding the announcement. “Kevin Feige and the Marvel Studios team have continued to challenge notions of what is possible at the movie theatre both in terms of storytelling and at the box office,” said Alan Horn, Chairman, The Walt Disney Studios. “Though ‘Endgame’ is far from an end for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, these first 22 films constitute a sprawling achievement, and this weekend’s monumental success is a testament to the world they’ve envisioned, the talent involved, and their collective passion, matched by the irrepressible enthusiasm of fans around the world.”
Fastest Film to Reach $2 Billion
Endgame's dominance continues into its second weekend at the box office. To the surprise of no one, Endgame was #1, but it ended up pulling in $2.189 billion worth of ticket sales during its second weekend at the box office. The previous record-holder, Avatar, reached the $2 billion mark in 47 days.
Endgame is one of five films to make $2 billion; that list includes Avatar, Titanic, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and Avengers: Infinity War.
Highest Grossing Film of All Time
After a special theatrical re-release of Avengers: Endgame with additional content tacked onto the end of the film, Endgame finally did what some thought was the impossible: it defeated Avatar's long-standing record of being the highest-grossing film of all time. On Saturday, July 20, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige told the packed Comic-Con 2019 crowd in Hall H that the film was $500,000 away from taking over Avatar's record, and that it'd for sure be over the hump by the end of the weekend.
We'll see what happens when the cavalcade of Avatar sequels start dropping in 2021, although because Mickey Mouse owns the biggest properties in Hollywood, it's pretty much Disney battling itself.