Yahoo Finance 'Avengers: Endgame' smashes box office records the way Hulk handles puny gods
(This article contains no spoilers.)
There’s well over 7 billion people on earth and while there’s no word on the exact count, it seems that a good number of them probably saw “Avengers: Endgame” this weekend.
The 22nd movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) broke a number of records at the box office this weekend. The film brought in $350 million in the U.S. and $859 million globally. That comes to a worldwide total of $1.2 billion — marking the highest grossing weekend debut for a film of all time. That amount is also roughly a quarter of what Disney paid for Marvel Entertainment in 2009.
“What ‘Avengers: Endgame’ showed is that, for the right film, people will turn out, and they’ll turn out in record numbers,” said Variety’s Executive Editor Brent Lang on Yahoo Finance The First Trade. Lang believes that Marvel is a cash cow for Disney (DIS) and will continue to be a major money maker for the company. The blockbuster movie is also “a huge shot in the arm for Disney+ because it can legitimately say we are going to have this title exclusively.”
Movie theater chains fared very well, too. Droves of people flocked to AMC Theatres (AMC), Regal Entertainment Group, IMAX Corp. (IMAX) and Cinemark Theatres (CNK) to watch the film. In fact, four out of every five tickets sold domestically were for “Avengers: Endgame.”
The MCU has been a financial powerhouse for Disney. While “Avengers: Endgame” is in the rearview mirror, rival media companies like Warner Bros. (T), Universal Pictures (CMCSA), Sony Pictures (SNE) and Paramount Pictures (VIA) still have a lot to worry about, according to Lang.
While Lang thinks the next “Star Wars” movie, which is scheduled for release December 20, may not be Disney’s next hit, noting that “they need to reinvigorate that franchise and get people enthusiastic about it again,” Disney’s summer release July 19) of “Lion King” is promising.
“Over the long term, ‘Lion King’ can actually do similar numbers. It has the multi-generational appeal, and a piece of IP that everybody knows and everybody loves,” he said.
Nick Monte is a producer for Yahoo Finance's The First Trade
