By: Braden Kozlik
You’d be lying if you hadn’t heard about the new Avengers: Endgame movie that the world has been blowing up about. After the previous film, Avengers: Infinity War, left the world speechless on a cliffhanger, fans are on the edge of their seats for the next and final highly anticipated film. Don’t worry, there are no spoilers here, but it’s safe to say that the franchise has come to a tremendous finish. Let’s look at the film’s impact on the worldwide economy in just 3 short days and what this could mean for the future of Hollywood productions.To begin, box office sales were an absolute success, breaking all kinds of single-day, weekend, domestic and international gross records. The weekend gross totaled $350 million, $156.7 of which came from opening day alone. Disney later announced Sunday morning that the film pulled in an estimated $1.209 billion worldwide in its opening weekend, easily smashing the record of $640.5 million, set by none other than the Avengers: Infinity War set just last year. Yeah sure, those are pretty big numbers to think about, but to take it into perspective, Disney was able to make back everything they spent to make and market the movie. According to Deadline, with the two largest movie markets, the U.S. and China, analysts expected Avengers: Endgame “will near cash break even” between the two countries, as of Sunday. This highlights not only the national recognition the film has been getting, but the international attention as well.
The iconic franchise has been leaving box office films in the dust for nearly a decade, but let’s take a look of how the film matches up with the other highest-grossing domestic opening weekend films. To no one's surprise, Endgame secures the number 1 spot, in large part because in just 5 days, (including its international release) it became the fastest movie ever to reach $1 billion in GDP. It also became the fastest to gross $100, $200, and $300 million at the domestic box office, with the film taking 1, 2, and 3 days, respectively, to hit each number.With Avatar holding the record of $2.8 billion in box office sales, the franchise has only one record left to beat. But as we begin to approach the end of Week 1 since the release, how will the film keep up? According to Variety magazine, “Endgame will need a multiple of at least 2.2 times its debut to surpass the haul of Avatar.” The biggest second-weekend ever belongs to “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” with $149 million, marking a 39.8% decline in ticket sales, which adds yet another record to break. Ultimately, expect to maybe see a leftward shift in the aggregate demand curve because of a decrease in consumer spending as the Avenger’s hype begins to die down.
The numbers that Disney put up last weekend aren’t likely to be replicated any time soon. Considering the monstrous number of theaters Avengers: Endgame was released in throughout opening weekend, it's easy to see how it became possible for Endgame to break the records that it did to help the economy tremendously. But as we approach Week 2 since the film’s release, will the historic franchise continue to put up big numbers to pass Avatar’s record in box office sales or will they fall short?
Work Cited
D'Alessandro, Anthony, and Anthony D'Alessandro. “'Avengers: Endgame' Rests At $357M Opening Record; Eyes $33M Monday & Record $180M 2nd Frame; Weekend Biz Hits $401M High.” Deadline, 30 Apr. 2019, deadline.com/2019/04/avengers-endgame-opening-weekend-box-office-record-1202602445/.
Good, Owen S. “Avengers: Endgame Breaks Box Office Records with Massive $1.2 Billion Opening.” Polygon, Polygon, 28 Apr. 2019, www.polygon.com/2019/4/28/18521292/avengers-endgame-box-office-record-all-time-biggest.
Rubin, Rebecca, and Rebecca Rubin. “'Avengers: Endgame' Is Already a Box Office Juggernaut - How High Can It Climb?” Variety, 30 Apr. 2019, variety.com/2019/film/news/avengers-endgame-box-office-record-avatar-1203200349/.
Sobon, Nicole. “Avengers: Endgame Could Pass Avatar At Box Office.” CBR, CBR, 20 Apr. 2019, www.cbr.com/avengers-endgame-avatar-box-office/.
I think that it is insane that Endgame made over a billion dollars opening weekend. Endgame was something like the top 18th movie of all time after 4 days. I think that it is possible that Endgame can overtake Avatar. I know a lot of people still havent gone to see it yet and many people want to see it again. Disney also has a lot of new movies coming out soon so it is possible that these movies take some revenue from Endgame. I think the Lion King remake also has the possibility to make 1 billion over the time that it is in office.
ReplyDelete- Kaustav Saha
I actually don't find this surprising in the slightest. Marvel has spent the last 11 years putting out related movies and those movies by themselves have marketed for this movie. Furthermore, the cliffhanger at the end of the last movie leaves everyone, regardless of whether they saw it in the theaters or not, desperate for the end of the story. Lastly, the collective reaction to the previous movie online has likely drawn people into the realm of Marvel movies and added to the overwhelming following.
ReplyDeleteSo earlier today I was telling my friends, "When you hear that Endgame made $1 billion on its first weekend I'm part of that statistic," Well here we are, with Disney executives saying "Green," over Endgame making over a billion dollars. I am not surprised that the movie has grossed this much as when I was desperately looking for tickets for a Sunday show at our local Marcus Majestic nearly every seat was filled. I would like to point out though how the $1.209 billion is a bit misleading towards actual effect on the economy as that number doesn't take into account money spent on popcorn, drinks, or how the theater staff choose to spend their money given with the big turn out they probably had to work a few extra hours. To anyone who hasn't seen the movie I would definitely recommend it (though you should probably watch Infinity War first if you haven't already) and then you too can be a part of this billion dollar statistic.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I still have not seen the movie, I have definitely heard about the mass hype surrounding the movie, it is one of the biggest movies to come out this year, and with that comes a lot of moeny that is good for everyone around, The amount of money that comes into factor when you are talking about these movies are in the 100 millions and that is good for everyone, it helps out the economy by getting money moving, helps out everywhere else. This is a great things that happens when an amazing movie like this comes out.
ReplyDeleteI really liked this article because I was curious about the numbers that this movie put up. It has been blowing up for the past 2 months and when it finally came out every person in the world went to see it. The numbers are not surprising to me because of all the attention that this movie was getting but it is surprising that it may not pass Avatar as the highest grossing film ever. Although Avatar was a great movie Avengers Endgame far surpassed how good it was and should break the record. Obviously the ticket sales are going to decrease into the second weekend, but if they can drop at a rate lower than 38% the movie could very well pass Avatar in even less time than expected. I also found it really interesting that they have already paid for the movie in full after a single weekend. This is insane because of how long a movie like this takes to make. After only 2 days all the money that was spent had been reimbursed. Overall this is a good article and the movie was even better.
ReplyDeleteThis is crazy, I was never into these movies and everyone and I mean EVERYONE has been obsessing over it. Although this doesn't take into account the other money being spent on other products such as food, there's so much profit being made overall. Another thing to consider is all the families with younger kids who then have to hire a babysitter so they can go and watch the movie, last night I watched a little girl for a few hours so her parents could go and see this movie and having a babysitter isn't free. The going rate for any care taker is 10 an hour starting. All in all I think this is so interesting considering the profits are this high and the movie just came out.
ReplyDeleteThese statistics included in the blog does not surprise me. This movie is a huge deal because it is the end of the entire series. People have been emotionally attached to each individual character due to the individual movies that tie together to create this record-breaking film. While I do agree that this movie has had great effects on the economy due to the popularity of it, the effects might not look as positive. As the movie starts to become older in the theaters, sales will start to decrease, which is normal. Yet, what will happen when a new Avengers movie does not come out because this is the end. Will the economy be negatively affected because large amounts of people will not want to see their superheros? By how much? I am interested to see what the future of movie holds and how movie corporations will, in a way, “replace” the Avengers.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that it is much of a surprise that this movie was such a success. It was without a doubt the most anticipated movies in history, so the sales are going to be off the charts, especially since the average movies has been going on for almost 20 years. People have been waiting for this day for a whole year, so the demand for tickets were extremely high. I just wonder if there is going to be a movie that is going to top Endgame, and when and what will it be.
ReplyDeleteI think this was a projected occurrence, no one is surprised that Endgame made record breaking sales the first weekend I don't think anyone doubts they will break the box office record of Avators 2.8 billion, Endgame in 72 hours dropped over a billion in sales. Everyone in this universe is interested in this movie and the marvel series.
ReplyDeleteThis does not come to a surprise to me what so ever. A week or so after it had originally come out, it was still impossible to find seats in the movie theater. The income that this movie will make is still on upward slope, and I do not see it coming to an end anytime soon. Just recently Endgame pasted up the Titanic, and is still on the rise and could possible the the most gross income produced movie in history. Looking at the bigger picture what does that mean, the movie theater and loving this, and going to take advantage of this to the fullest extent. If you did not notice the ticket prices for this movie is went up my a dollar and 25 cents at most theaters, knowing that small increase in ticket will not turn away customers, but will increase the profit margins by hundreds of thousands.
ReplyDeleteA clear theme is that we all knew that the sales would be this high and considering Avatar, while being a great movie, is not distinctively memorable or there wasn't much hype after it's release, with all the marketing Marvel has put into this finale should give Endgame the boost it needs to beat all the milestones. That 2.2 billion for Avatar is the total since it's release correct? You have to keep in mind how long theaters choose to run Endgame for, and how soon the next Marvel movie comes out that will divert people's attention away from the movie. I agree with the other sentiments that this does not take into consideration other implicit and explicit costs like food or caregiving services. Even gas, service fees, and merchandise can contribute to the overall GDP boost that Marvel is giving us. Also, because China is such a huge part of the Marvel market, I wonder if all of that money from opening day would transfer back to our economy, putting even more yuan into our economy and devaluing it further?
ReplyDeleteAs I am an avid watcher of the MCU, I can say that the box office debut for this movie was expected. The Russo brothers as well as the whole Marvel Cinematic team have cranked out so many movies since the beginning of the storyline back in 2008. The increased attention that the movie series has gained over 11 years only reinforces this premise. The cliffhanger after the 3rd Avengers is a huge contributor to the success of Endgame.
ReplyDelete