Movies

Avengers: Infinity War

Most Successful Entertainment Launches

The king of the box office never lasts forever, and the recent release of Avengers: Infinity War knocked the crown off of The Fate of the Furious to take the top spot for worldwide box office opening weekends. The movie brought in more than $640 million during its first week in theaters.

The critically-praised Infinity War, according to movie ticketing company Fandango (via Variety), surpassed the company’s 24-hour pre-sale record, a title previously held by Black Panther, in just six hours. Atom Tickets, a competitor of Fandango, said Infinity War’s first pre-sale day saw more tickets sold than Black Panther had sold in its first month.

The Fate of the Furious

Though it failed to live up to the release weekend of Furious 7 in the U.S. and Canada, international audiences carried The Fate of the Furious to the top of the worldwide box office charts, giving it the mantle of best opening weekend for a movie, bringing in nearly $542 million, until Avengers: Infinity War recently took the throne.

The Fate of the Furious did have one major advantage over Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which had previously held the top worldwide opening weekend spot, China. The Force Awakens didn’t make its way to the world’s second largest market until a month after it released elsewhere, whereas that market brought in more than $192 million for The Fate of the Furious’ opening weekend. This made it the most lucrative opening weekend in China, taking the spot from 2016’s The Mermaid.