Top ten biggest worldwide box office openings

In the biggest global opening of all time, Avengers: Infinity War has broken worldwide box office records for an opening weekend, raking in an estimated $630m (£457m) globally in the first few days following its release last Thursday.

The movie takes the global top spot from last year’s The Fate Of The Furious, which took $542m (£395.5m) during its Easter release.

The takings could be even higher as the new Avengers movie, in which Marvel superheroes unite to battle the villain Thanos, hasn’t opened in China yet, says the BBC.

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The film earned an estimated $250m (£182m) in its opening weekend in the US, making it the biggest domestic opening of all time. It also edged out the $248m (£180m) that Star Wars: The Force Awakens made in 2015.

Infinity War, directed by brothers Joe and Anthony Russo, cost between $300-400m (£220-290m) to make, CNN reports. Its record-breaking opening means Disney now holds nine of the top ten biggest openings in North American history.

Paul Dergarabedian, a senior media analyst at comScore (SCOR), told CNN: “Disney masterfully combined all of the separate elements of the Marvel brand and brought them together in an enormous and irresistible epic popcorn movie”, adding that the film “showcased the big screen experience in a way that audiences embraced, despite all of the competition from an almost infinite array of options for on-demand entertainment”.

The film stars Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chadwick Boseman and Chris Pratt.

Here are the ten biggest box office openings of all time:

1. Avengers: Infinity War (2018) – $630m (£458.7m)
2. The Fate of the Furious (2017) – $541.9m (£394.7m)
3. Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) – $529m (£385.2m)
4. Jurassic World (2015) – $525.5m (£382.6m)
5. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (2011) – $483.2 (£351.8m)
6. Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) – $450.8m (£328.2m)
7. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) – $422.5m (£307.6m)
8. Furious 7 (2015) – $397.7m (£289.6m)
9. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) – $394m (£286.9m)
10. Marvel’s The Avengers (2012) – $392.5m (£285.8m)