‘Avengers: Infinity War’ Secures Rare China Release Extension As It Nears $2B WW
June 6, 2018
‘Avengers: Infinity War’ Secures Rare China Release Extension As It Nears $2B WW
Disney/Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War has beed granted a rare 30-day extended run in China, Deadline has learned. The Anthony and Joe Russo-directed juggernaut is currently sitting on about $360M in the Middle Kingdom, and with the extra play should handily take that to $370M or more. This is the 3rd recent extension of a Disney title in the market after Coco and Zootopia.
Related
'Cloak & Dagger' Review: Subdued Marvel Series Less Concerned With Superhero Flair, More Socially Aware
AIW was already headed towards $2B globally, and its staying power in China should help it get there faster. Estimates are that it will cross the milestone early next week. Through Tuesday, the worldwide box office is $1.974B.
Iron Man, Black Panther, Vision, Hulk et al will continue battling Thanos in China until July 9 after originally being set to fade to dust on local screens at the end of this weekend. Holds have been typical of the market but bounced back last weekend aided by the Children’s Day holiday. Coming up it will clearly face competition as Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom opens June 15, followed by Disney/Pixar’s The Incredibles 2 on June 22.
Chinese box office is booming this year, and Infinity War has continued to perform since its crushing $199.3M bow in early May which was the 2nd biggest industry three-day debut behind The Fate Of The Furious (in local currency).
It’s still unclear how the PROC powers-that-be come by decisions to extend a movie’s run, but other similar instances include the above-mentioned Disney titles as well as DreamWorks Animation’s The Croods several years ago and Mel Gibson’s Hacksaw Ridge last year.
The (un)official China blackout period on non-local product begins in July.