“Avengers: Endgame,” the last in a 22-film arc featuring the beloved Marvel Universe superheroes, crashed records upon its release in Asia, specifically in China, Disney — which owns Marvel Studios — announced Thursday.
The movie raked in $169 million on Wednesday, its first day of release in 25 markets including China, Australia and several countries in Europe.
It set single-day box office records in China, Australia, New Zealand and other countries, said Disney, which bought Marvel Studios in 2009.
The film’s performance in China was impressive — $107.5 million.
In France, “Endgame” scored the biggest opening day for a Marvel film. It set an overall opening day record in the Netherlands, Greece and Egypt.
The figures indicate that “Endgame” will surpass the receipts generated by the previous episode in the “Avengers” saga — “Infinity War” — which came out last year, it added.
The film will go into wide release in the United States and Canada on Friday, with showings in select cities from Thursday.
Experts predict the well-reviewed “Avengers” finale — featuring Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johansson and a raft of other stars — could make $200-260 million in its opening weekend in North America.
In India, the country’s main ticket trader said advance sales had exceeded 2.5 million, and some cinemas in the usually Bollywood-mad country are planning around-the-clock screenings.
Movie buffs are predicting a debut weekend that could break records with the first billion-dollar worldwide opening in history.
The 21 preceding films — featuring many of the comic book heroes created by the late legend Stan Lee — have earned about $19 billion globally.
