'Infinity War' wins the weekend box office for a 3rd consecutive weekend - and it's now the 2nd-fastest to half a billion domestically
- "Avengers: Infinity War" wins the box office for a third straight weekend.
- The movie is the second fastest ever to cross the half-billion mark at the domestic box office.
Disney/Marvel Studios' plan to bump up the release of "Avengers: Infinity War" (or was it Robert Downey Jr.'s idea?) a weekend earlier than originally planned has worked out perfectly.
The movie was always destined to make an incredibly large amount of money its opening weekend, but instead of one weekend between the latest Marvel hit and its biggest competition, Fox's "Deadpool 2," "Infinity War" had two weekends to shine. And that has led to a multi-record-breaking box office performance.
After becoming the quickest movie ever to $1 billion worldwide last weekend and having the second-largest second weekend ever in US theaters, "Infinity War" won this weekend's box office for a third-straight weekend and has crossed the half-billion figure domestically.
The movie took in an estimated $61.8 million, according to Exhibitor Relations, which puts its domestic total at $547 million (over $1 billion worldwide). That makes it the second-fastest title ever to cross the $500 million mark domestically. It hit the milestone five days later than the fastest title ever to the figure, "Star Wars: The Force Awakens."
"Infinity War" basically sucked the life out of the other big release of the weekend, New Line/Warner Bros.'s "Life of the Party." The latest Melissa McCarthy comedy came in second place but only took in $18.5 million.
It was the first time a release directed by her husband, Ben Falcone ("Tammy," "The Boss"), didn't open over $20 million. It also didn't help that the movie only had a 41% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
But in a respectable third place was Universal's "Breaking In." The thriller starring Gabrielle Union was only made for around $6 million, but it took in $16.5 million.
Now, "Infinity War" will have to make way. The box office will get into the full summer movie season swing when "Deadpool 2" opens next weekend to kick off a constant string of big releases. The movie's early industry projections have it opening around $150 million.