In its first two days of its international release, the fourth Avengers flick grossed $305 million, with an additional $60 million from domestic Thursday night previews. This broke the previous record for domestic Thursday night previews, which was $57 million earned by Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Endgame also set beat Despicable Me 3‘s record of widest opening, premiering in 4,662 cinemas in the United States. Industry experts project the film will gross somewhere between $260 and $285 million in its opening weekend in the United States alone; though, some analysts have claimed this to be a conservative prediction, positing that the film will gross over $300 million in its domestic opening weekend. Worldwide, Endgame is projected to earn between $750 and $900 million between April 26 and 28. Avengers is likely to become the fifth film to ever cross the $2 billion mark at the worldwide box office, following in the footsteps of Titanic (1997), Avatar (2009), Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), and its predecessor, Avengers: Infinity War (2018).

The film, which runs for a butt-coma-inducing 181 minutes, is the twenty-second installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and billed as the “finale” to the MCU thus far (dubbed The Infinity Saga). Many characters are expected to make their final appearance in this film.

Avengers: Endgame, as of writing, holds a 96 percent approval rating among 304 critics. Rotten Tomato’s consensus reads, “Exciting, entertaining, and emotionally impactful, Avengers: Endgame does whatever it takes to deliver a satisfying finale to Marvel’s epic Infinity Saga.”

Only one MCU film has been officially announced after Endgame—Spider-Man: Far From Home, which is set to be released on July 2. Marvel Studios has been extremely secretive about its plans for Phase Four and beyond. However, Marvel Studios executive Kevin Feige confirmed in April the rumor that a film based on the character Shang-Chi will be a part of Phase Four. Feige has stated that Marvel will not officially announce its next slate of films until after the release of Spider-Man: Far From Home.

Sources

“All Time Worldwide Box Office Grosses.” Box Office Mojo, Internet Movie Database, www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/world/.

“Avengers: Endgame (2019).” Rotten Tomatoes, Fandango, www.rottentomatoes.com/m/avengers_endgame.

“’Avengers: Endgame’ Set for Global Domination, Can It Deliver a $300M Domestic Debut?” Box Office Mojo, Internet Movie Database, www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=4506&p=.htm.

“Avengers: Infinity War (2018).” Box Office Mojo, Internet Movie Database, www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=marvel0518.htm.

Evans, Nick. “Marvel’s Kevin Feige Confirms Shang-Chi Is Coming In Phase Four.” CINEMABLEND, CINEMABLEND, 24 Apr. 2019, www.cinemablend.com/news/2470670/marvels-kevin-feige-confirms-shang-chi-is-coming-in-phase-four.

“Movies With the Widest Openings at the Box Office.” Box Office Mojo, www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/widest.htm?page=WIDESTOPEN&p=.htm.

Whitten, Sarah. “’Avengers: Endgame’ Is Set to Smash Box-Office Records, but Won’t Surpass $300 Million in US Debut.” CNBC, CNBC, 24 Apr. 2019, www.cnbc.com/2019/04/24/avengers-endgame-box-office-records-wont-include-300-million-debut.html.