The champagne corks at the Marvel offices are surely being popped as Avengers: Infinity War has finally broken the $2 billion mark, achieving the milestone after 48 days in cinemas.
Since its April release, Infinity War has gone on to smash several box office records including biggest opening weekend and fastest to reach $1 billion.
However, this latest achievement has placed the superhero franchise in a league of its own. It is now the fourth highest grossing movie of all-time.
Marvel Studios’ epic crossover now joins ranks with the likes of; Star Wars: The Force Awakens (over $2 billion), Titanic (over $2.1 billion) and Avatar (over $2.7 billion) with the news of the film breaking the $2 billion barrier a day later than it took the Na’vi, reports ComicBook.
Ironically the director of the latter two, James Cameron, has openly stated his disdain for comic book movies, in particular, those from the MCU.
Speaking to IndieWire, the director stated he hoped cinemas would soon tire of Marvel and their constant moneymakers, but with Infinity War hitting the hallowed two billion-mark it seems the ‘fatigue’ isn’t coming any time soon.
Cameron said:
I’m hoping we’ll start getting ‘Avenger’ fatigue here pretty soon. Not that I don’t love the movies. It’s just, come on guys, there are other stories to tell besides hyper-gonadal males without families doing death-defying things for two hours and wrecking cities in the process. It’s like, oy!
This is coming from the guy who is convinced the world wants to see four more Avatar movies. I’m not saying I don’t want to watch four more Avatar sequels, I just believe people shouldn’t throw stones from within glass houses.
Maybe he’s feeling threatened by the Avengers dominance at the box office or the slow creeping inevitability that he’ll soon lose his coveted number one and two spots. Let it go, James, just let it go.
Marvel Studios President, Kevin Feige, responded to Cameron’s slights – albeit with a less petty veneer. Speaking to Vulture back in April, Feige focused in on the ‘[It’s] not that I don’t love the movies’ part of Cameron’s comments.
Pointing it out, Fiege claimed:
Uh, he loves the movies
That’s awesome! Wow, James Cameron loves our movies! That’s exciting!
Since its release, Avengers: Infinity War has gone on to be the biggest superhero film in history. On May 11 the major crossover event opened to an incredible $75 million (plus) to audiences in China, finishing the opening weekend in the country with a confirmed $199.3 million, Deadline reports.
In 2012, The Avengers (or Avengers Assemble, as it was released as in the UK) stunned audiences when it hit $1.5 billion, becoming the then third-highest grossing movie in history.
Infinity War has blitz passed these figures at a pace Usain Bolt and Quicksilver would be proud of – this includes its opening in a few markets prior to the film’s first full opening weekend.
Not only has it smashed records in such a short amount of time, there’s no sign MCU-machine will slow down anytime soon – Cameron and Na’vi be damned.
Plans are already in place for Phase 4, with Tom Holland’s Spider-Man poised to be the launch pad for the MCU’s new era.
But before we get there Marvel will be putting the finishing touches on Phase Three post-Infinity War. August 3 will see the team up of Ant-Man & The Wasp, this will be followed by the long-awaited Captain Marvel, the studio’s first female-led film, starring Brie Larson as Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel, out on March 8, 2019.
Phase Three will finally culminate with Avengers 4 (a working title), which will be in UK cinemas on April 26, 2019.
Take my money and add it to that massive pile.
If you have a story you want to tell send it to UNILAD via stories@unilad.co.uk
