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A whole lot of superheroes added up to a whole lot of ticket sales.
Five all-time biggest US openings
- Avengers: Infinity War — $US250 million
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens — $US247 million
- Star Wars: The Last Jedi — $US220 million
- Jurassic World — $US208 million
- Marvel's The Avengers — $US207 million
The superhero smorgasbord Avengers: Infinity War opened with predictable shock and awe, earning $US630 million ($831 million) worldwide to set the highest opening weekend of all time.
Infinity War, which brings together some two dozen superheroes in a 10-year climax of Marvel Studio's "cinematic universe", also set a new domestic record with $US250 million ($330 million) at the American box office, edging past Star Wars: The Force Awakens as the all-time highest opening weekend in the United States.
In Australia, the blockbuster netted a cool $30 million over its opening weekend down under.
The global record was set even though the film is yet to open in China, the world's second-largest movie market — it opens in China on May 11.
According to Disney's estimates, Infinity War overwhelmed the previous global best (The Fate of the Furious with $715.5 million) but narrowly topped The Force Awakens in North America.
The Star Wars reboot debuted with $US248 million in 2015, which would translate to about $US260 million ($343 million) accounting for inflation.
But both intergalactic behemoths belong to Disney, which now owns nine of the top 10 opening weekends ever — including six Marvel releases.
That includes Black Panther, which has grossed $1.7 billion since opening in February and still managed to rank fifth at this weekend's box office, thanks partially to Marvel fans self-programming a double-feature.
The track record for Marvel, along with the hyper, extravagant effort put into the long-planned Infinity War, made the record-setting weekend something of a fait accompli.
After 10 years, 18 prior films and some $19.8 billion in box office takings, the weekend was an assured and long-awaited coronation for Kevin Feige's Marvel, the most dominant force in a Hollywood with precious few sure things.
"To have now the biggest movie of domestic history as one of the Marvel cinematic universe films seems like a fitting tribute to the Marvel Studios team which has had just an astounding, unmatched run in the last decade," said Dave Hollis, head of distribution for Disney.
By any measure, the 2 hour, 40 minute-long Infinity War is one of the largest films ever assembled.
With a production budget reportedly almost $US300 million ($396 million), Joe and Anthony Russo's film brings together the stars of Marvel's superhero stable, including Robert Downey Jr's Iron Man, Chris Hemsworth's Thor, Chadwick Boseman's Black Panther, Chris Evans' Captain America and many more.
It was shot over 18 months back-to-back with a sequel due out next summer.
AP/ABC
Topics: film-movies, arts-and-entertainment, film, united-states