DIS Walt Disney Co

By Erich Schwartzel 

LOS ANGELES -- Walt Disney Co.'s "Avengers: Endgame" became the first movie in Hollywood history to gross more than $1 billion in its debut at the world-wide box office.

The Marvel Studios blockbuster, powered by record-setting hauls in the U.S. and China, collected an estimated $1.2 billion in its first five days of release. An estimated $350 million of that total came from the U.S. and Canada, an amount that blew past the previous opening-weekend record set last year by "Avengers: Infinity War" by about $92 million.

Hollywood expected "Endgame" to set a record, but its performance stretched the limit of what many studio executives thought was even possible in an opening weekend. Demand for the movie forced exhibitors to dedicate about half the nation's screens to the superhero movie, with dozens of locations screening it round-the-clock.

"Endgame" could become the highest-grossing movie of all time, beating the record set by "Avatar," which made $2.79 billion globally in 2009. After just five days of release, it is already No. 18 on the world-wide box-office chart.

"Endgame" caps a series of 21 Marvel superhero movies that began with 2008's "Iron Man" and has included smash hits such as "Guardians of the Galaxy," "Black Panther" and "Captain Marvel." A sequel to last year's "Infinity War," it has been marketed by Disney as the culmination of the 11-year saga -- though more Marvel movies are already scheduled on the release calendar.

"Endgame" even appeared to set a record for the number of records it set. In China, the world's second-largest box office, the movie is virtually guaranteed to become the highest-grossing import of all time, with $331 million grossed so far -- only about $60 million behind the current record holder, 2017's "The Fate of the Furious."

"Endgame" continues Disney's unprecedented winning streak at the box office. The studio is behind nine of the top 10 best opening weekends in history -- Universal Pictures' "Jurassic World" is the lone holdout among Disney hits like the last two "Star Wars" movies and "The Incredibles 2."

Opening-weekend audiences approved of "Endgame," giving it a rare "A+" grade, according to the CinemaScore market research firm, a response that could signal repeat customers in the weeks to come.

Write to Erich Schwartzel at erich.schwartzel@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 28, 2019 12:23 ET (16:23 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.