Weekend Wrap-Up: Endgame Ends the Record Book, Practically Laps the Competition
April 29, 2019
Avengers: Endgame was expected to break records with some high-end predictions going as high as $350 million. Its final weekend numbers actually topped the high end expectations, as it opened with $357.12 million. This is almost exactly $100 million more than the previous record, set this weekend last year by Avengers: Infinity War. In fact, it is significantly more than the previous record for an overall weekend, set a few years back by The Force Awakens et al. Needless to say, the overall box office rose considerably from last weekend, up 270% to $402 million. More importantly, this was 29% more than the same weekend last year and this one weekend put a serious dent in 2019’s deficit in the year-over-year comparisons. Granted, 2019 is still behind 2018’s pace by more than 11% or $420 million at $3.28 billion to $3.70 billion. I suspect May will also be a very good month in the year-over-year comparison so hopefully that gap will be more reasonable in a month’s time. I don’t think 2019 will catch up to 2018 any time soon, but if it can cut the deficit in raw dollars in half by the end of May, then I will be happy.
Avengers: Endgame exploded out of the gate earning $357.12 million over the weekend setting countless box office records in the process. These includes, but are not limited to... biggest previews, biggest day, biggest weekend, etc. That’s not mentioning the fastest to $50 million through $350 million. I could keep listing these records for a long, long time, but it would get silly very quickly. Endgame is already the ninth biggest hit in the M.C.U. and it will quickly climb that chart, especially if it has decent legs. Granted, it is the definition of a Fanboy Film, but it also has 96% positive reviews and an unbelievable A plus from CinemaScore. The film could fall nearly nearly 60% next weekend and still break the second weekend record. It won’t have the same legs as The Force Awakens did, because it doesn’t have the Christmas / New Year break to boost its numbers, but it could still finish as the biggest domestic hit of all time.
Captain Marvel fell a mere 9% earning $8.31 million over the weekend for a total of $413.84 million after eight weeks of release. The film is now the undisputed box office champion for a female-led film, having overtaken Wonder Woman’s domestic crown over the weekend. It will be interesting to see how long it can hold onto this title. My guess is “Not long.” as Wonder Woman 1984 will hope to overtake her next year.
The Curse of La Llorona fell 69% to just $8.05 million over the weekend for a two-week total of $41.83 million. This is a dramatic fall; however, the film only cost $9 million to make, so I think it will still break even early in its home market run, if not sooner.
Breakthrough managed fourth place with $6.81 million over the the weekend for a three-week total of $26.62 million. The film should end its run with over $40 million, which is very solid for a faith-based film.
Shazam fell all the way to fifth place with $5.58 million over the weekend, while its running tally rose to $131.21 million. The film has already made enough to ensure a significant profit margin, so this decline is just a minor bump on the road to a sequel.
Penguins actually climbed into tenth place, thanks to a mere 50% sophomore stint decline. It added $1.14 million to its running tally, which now sits at $5.81 million. However, its theater average is just $629, so it will all but disappear from theaters over the next couple of weeks.
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Filed under: Weekend Wrap-up, Shazam!, Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame, The Curse of La Llorona, Penguins, Breakthrough, Marvel Cinematic Universe