Palisadian Kevin Feige, the producer and President of Marvel Studios, can rest easy on his laurels. “Avengers: Endgame,” the final component of a cinematic universe that has spanned 12 years and 22 films, has officially become the second highest grossing film of all time (not adjusted for inflation)with a worldwide cumulative box office of close to $2.5 billion dollars at the time the Palisadian-Post went to print.
The three-hour “Endgame” has a long way to go to surpass “Gone With the Wind” (1939), which, adjusted for inflation, boasted a worldwide box office of $3.7 billion when the film was released. James Cameron (“Avatar”) recently congratulated Feige and the team at Marvel Studios for surpassing his film “Titanic” in the global box office record books.
“To Kevin and everyone at Marvel,” Cameron wrote in a tweet on May 8. “An Iceberg sank the real Titanic. It took the Avengers to sink my ‘Titanic.’ Everyone here at Lightstorm Entertainment salutes your amazing achievement. You’ve shown that the movie industry is not only alive and well, it’s bigger than ever.” The tweet was accompanied by a cheeky image of the Avengers logo, poised like an iceberg, sinking the Titanic.
It should come as no surprise the film has succeeded marvelously with Disney’s strategy. The film debuted in 50 countries over a five-day period, generating a $1.2 billion haul. Much of the success of “Endgame” came from advanced ticket sales, a whopping $127 million of its $357 domestic debut coming from Fandango sales alone.
“Endgame” didn’t surpass “Avatar,” the highest-grossing film of all time (not adjusted for inflation) at $2.7 billion, though it still has time and legs. After Disney’s acquisition of Fox Studios, “Avatar” has become a Disney franchise and, accordingly, Disney has staggered the release of the next two “Avatar” films over several years. Previously, Avatar held the record for fastest growth to a $2 billion at the global box office after 47 days. That record was crushed by “Endgame” after just 11 days, an unprecedented success in film history.
“Endgame” screenwriter Christopher Markus told the LATimes earlier this month that he was excited to see what Feige would bring to the X-Men and Fantastic Four properties acquired in the Fox merger.
The industry, and movie-goers everywhere, are all eagerly waiting to see how Feige will make history next.
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