Monday Morning Update:

Disney’s studio estimate for Avengers: Infinity War have been raised from Sunday — and it was already breaking records on Sunday.

The domestic opening estimate has been raised from $250.0 million to $258.2 million. That’s the highest opening of all time, or second-highest ever when adjusted for ticket price inflation behind only Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

The weekend increase was primarily because the Sunday estimate was raised substantially, from $61.0 million to $69.2 million. That makes it the highest-grossing Sunday of all time, whether in pure dollars or adjusted for ticket price inflation.

The global opening estimate was also raised from $630.0 million to $640.9 million, the best ever ahead of last summer’s The Fate of the Furious.

Sunday Update:

Avengers: Infinity War has started the summer movie season with a huge bang. The latest chapter in the MCU canon more than delivered on its immense promise this weekend with a colossal, record-breaking opening of $250 million, surpassing Star Wars: The Force Awakens‘ opening weekend gross of $247.9 million back in December 2015. If estimates hold, that means the Disney-Marvel blockbuster now has the biggest opening weekend of all time.

Infinity War‘s astronomical opening wasn’t much of a surprise when considering the film’s grosses early in the weekend, where it took in $39 million in Thursday night previews (fourth best of all time) and a gargantuan $105.9 million on Friday (making it the second best opening day all-time and the first non-Star Wars film to gross over $100 million in its first full day of release). It didn’t hurt that the team-up sequel, which features the largest cast of Marvel characters in a single movie to date, received largely-positive reviews (it has a “Certified Fresh” score of 84% on Rotten Tomatoes) and a solid “A” Cinemascore based on exit surveys.

In addition to beating out Star Wars, the opening represents a major improvement on the two previous Avengers installments, which took in $207.4 million and $191.2 million, respectively, on their way to final grosses of $623 million and $459 million in North America.

How Infinity War performs in the weeks ahead will be key in determining its final placement on the list of all-time blockbusters. As we’ve mentioned here previously, the film’s legs could potentially suffer due to the fact that it’s not a standalone MCU installment – which tend to hold better – but rather the first of a two-part story that hinges on a particularly dark cliffhanger. Nonetheless, this is a massive debut that once again reaffirms the enduring power of the MCU brand and its dedication to quality, audience-pleasing filmmaking.

Needless to say, Infinity War more or less leveled nearly every other title currently in the marketplace, including two-time champ A Quiet Place, which finished a very, very distant second with $10.6 million in its fourth weekend. That represents the Paramount hit’s highest drop to date (49 percent), but given the competition that’s actually a stellar hold. The Paramount release’s total now stands at a remarkable $148.1 million.

In third place, STX’s I Feel Pretty grossed an estimated $8.1 million, down a not-bad 49 percent from last weekend. The Amy Schumer vehicle weathered the Infinity War-dominated frame better than most holdovers, partially owing to the fact that it’s not competing as directly with the MCU blockbuster as more action-oriented titles. The film’s total now stands at a so-so $29.5 million after ten days, putting it slightly below Schumer’s previous comedy Snatched, which finished with a disappointing $45.8 million last summer.

In fourth place was previous No. 1 finisher Rampage, which grossed $7.1 million in its third weekend. The Dwayne Johnson action flick took a mighty hit from Infinity War, plunging 64 percent to give it a total of $77.9 million after 17 days. With the blockbuster summer movie season heating up, the video game adaptation is very unlikely to top $100 million domestically but it’s thus far more than quadrupled its North American haul overseas, giving it a healthy $334.6 million total worldwide.

The only film not to crumble in the face of Infinity War was standalone MCU title Black Panther, which took in $4.3 million in weekend number 11. The blockbuster actually benefitted from the current hype around its MCU counterpart, easing just 11 percent from last weekend’s haul. The Ryan Coogler-directed behemoth now boasts a total of $688 million domestically, putting it within striking distance of $700 million.

Suffering the worst tumble of any movie in the Top 10 was last weekend’s surprise success Super Troopers 2, which plummeted 76 percent to sixth place with $3.6 million in its sophomore frame. The nosedive wasn’t a huge surprise, as the sequel to the 2002 cult comedy had a heavily front-loaded opening weekend made up of superfans who had waited over 15 years for a follow-up (and many of whom contributed to the film’s successful Indiegogo campaign). The Fox Searchlight release now has a better-than-expected $22 million after ten days.

Blumhouse’s Truth or Dare finished in seventh place in it third weekend with $3.2 million, giving the Universal horror flick a total of $35.3 million after 17 days. Blockers finished in eighth place in its fourth weekend with $2.9 million, giving the Leslie Mann-John Cena comedy a respectable $53.2 million so far. Ninth and tenth went to Ready Player One and Traffik, which grossed $2.4 million and $1.6 million in their fifth and second weekends, respectively. The Spielberg sci-fi’s total now stands at $130.6 million domestically while the Lionsgate thriller has $6.7 million.

Limited Release: 

In its opening weekend of limited release, Bleecker Street’s Disobedience grossed an estimated $241,276 on just four screens, giving the Rachel Weisz-Rachel McAdams drama an impressive per-theater average of $48,255. The well-reviewed film about the forbidden sexual relationship between two Orthodox Jewish women is set to open wider in the coming weeks.

Weekend Actuals (Domestic)

FRI, APR. 27 – SUN, APR. 29

Sunday’s Studio Weekend Estimates

Friday, April 27 – Sunday, April 29, 2018