Avengers: Infinity War scores highest opening ever with $250 million weekend

UPDATE: With final numbers in on Monday morning, Avengers: Infinity War officially delivered the biggest box office opening of all time. The Marvel film earnedan estimated $258.2 million domestically to beat Star Wars: The Force Awakens for the U.S. opening weekend record, and raked in $382.7 million internationally — bringing its global tally to $640.9 million.

EARLIER: Thanos is well on his way to subjugating the universe, and he’s definitely got the box office under his thumb.

Disney and Marvel’s superhero epic Avengers: Infinity War is on track to earn an estimated $250 million at 4,474 theaters in the U.S. and Canada this weekend, claiming the highest domestic opening of all time, not adjusted for inflation. Final numbers will roll in Monday, but the movie is poised to dethrone Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which previously held the top spot with $248 million.

The record-breaking haul combines the second-highest domestic Friday in history ($106 million) with the highest Saturday ($83 million) and Sunday ($61 million). With an estimated overseas gross of $380 million, Infinity War also heralds the largest global opening in history, with $630 million. Universal’s The Fate of the Furious previously held the title with $541.9 million. Unlike that film, Infinity War has yet to open in China, the world’s second-largest movie market.

Marvel now boasts six of the top 10 opening weekends of all time, while parent company Disney holds nine of the top 10. The 19 installments of the Marvel Cinematic Universe have combined to earn about $15.4 billion.

Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, Infinity War marks the third Avengers film and reportedly cost close to $300 million to make. Featuring heroes from across the MCU mega-franchise — including Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man, Chris Evans’ Captain America, Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, and the Chris Pratt-led Guardians of the Galaxy — the movie pits them against Thanos (Josh Brolin), an interplanetary warlord trying to cull half the life in the universe.

Infinity War has received generally positive reviews from critics, and moviegoers gave it an A CinemaScore. An untitled sequel is already on the calendar for May 3, 2019.

No other films opened in wide release this weekend. The top five was filled out by Paramount’s horror movie A Quiet Place, STX’s comedy I Feel Pretty, Warner Bros’. action movie Rampage, and Marvel’s previous release, Black Panther.

According to ComScore, overall box office is up 3.4 percent year-to-date. Check out the April 27-29 figures below.

1. Avengers: Infinity War — $250 million
2. A Quiet Place — $10.7 million
3. I Feel Pretty — $8.1 million
4. Rampage — $7.1 million
5. Black Panther — $4.4 million
6. Super Troopers 2 — $3.6 million
7. Truth or Dare — $3.2 million
8. Blockers — $2.9 million
9. Ready Player One — $2.4 million
10. Traffik — $1.6 million