‘Avengers: Infinity War’ Sets More Box Office Records | UK Box Office Report 4-6th May 2018

Posted on by Joseph Wade

Avengers: Infinity War kept its vice-like grip on the worldwide box office again this week, topping the UK box office chart top 5 over this past weekend with a total of £10.1million, nearly £9million beyond its closest rival, the debuting Amy Schumer comedy I Feel Pretty. Here are the top 5 films of this past weekend 4-6th May 2018:

Friday to Sunday, Infinity War earned £10,143,580, an accumulation almost as high as the entire 5 week top 5 chart run of A Quiet Place (£10,773,694) and more than the total made across the 4 week top 5 run of fellow action blockbuster Rampage (£8,323,117).

In terms of overall best weekend performances for 2018, this 2nd weekend total for Infinity War is the third highest of 2018:

  1. Avengers: Infinity War – Apr 2018 – £23.1million
  2. Black Panther – Feb 2018 – £17.7million
  3. Avengers: Infinity War – May 2018 – £10.1million

With this weekend total included, Infinity War has now earned £49,120,290 in the UK, making it the 2nd highest grossing movie of 2018 in the region, only £1million away from fellow Marvel juggernaut Black Panther which has been in cinemas for 11 weeks longer. In just 11 days, Avengers 3 has earned more money than The Greatest Showman has accumulated across 18 weeks in the UK’s top 10 highest grossing movie charts (£46,208,734), and has made more money than all but 4 movies released since 2016 – Star Wars: The Last Jedi (£80.3million), Beauty and the Beast (£72.4million), Dunkirk (£55.8million) and Black Panther (£50.4million).

Even if the film was to take a 60% drop off week on week for the next three weeks (a figure higher than the 50% expectation), the movie would still hit around £67-£70million, a figure that would put the releas on the cusp of the UK’s all-time highest earning movies:

  1. Star Wars: The Force Awakens – £103.2million
  2. Skyfall – £103.2million
  3. Spectre – £95.2million
  4. Avatar – £94million
  5. Star Wars: The Last Jedi – £82.7million
  6. Titanic – £80.3million
  7. Toy Story 3 – £74million
  8. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 – £73.1million
  9. Beauty and the Beast – £72.4million
  10. Mamma Mia! – £68.6million

Internationally, the picture is looking even more rosy for Marvel Studios and parent company Disney, as the film broke the record for the fastest movie to ever earn $1billion worldwide, hitting the mark 1 day before previous record holder Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Remarkably, it has managed to hit $1.2billion over the course of its run thus far without the help of the lucrative Chinese market, in which it opens this coming Friday and has set pre-sale records for an American film in the country. Current projections have the film reaching as high as $300-400million in the region over the course of the next few weeks, a gross that would take the overall takings of the film beyond $1.5billion even when continued sales in the UK, US, and every other country is taken out of consideration, making Infinity War a realistic choice for a possible $2billion grossing movie. As of today, only Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Titanic and Avatar have ever made it to that mark.

Elsewhere in the top 5, Amy Schumer comedy vehicle I Feel Pretty made its debut at number 2 with a total accumulation of £1,272,154, some £900,000 more than third placed A Quiet Place. While the figure is by no means impressive in the grand scheme of things, its positioning opposite such a juggernaut as Infinity War does shine its performance in a brighter light than perhaps first meets the eye. There is, however, a degree of concern regarding the financial success of the film given its lacklustre North American run where in 2 weekends of release the film has only made $39million from a $32million production budget, and seems to be dropping off alarmingly quickly for distributors STX Entertainment. While the 2nd placed ranking of the film does seem to indicate that it offered a reasonably successful alternative to Avengers here in the UK, the likelihood is that the film will struggle to surpass £3million by the end of its run, a figure that does not contribute significantly enough to save the movie from losing the studio money when advertising costs and so on are taken into account.



Here are the top 15 highest grossing movies of the weekend 4-6th May 2018:

  1. Avengers: Infinity War – weeks on release: 2 – weekend: £10,143,580 – total: £49,120,290
  2. I Feel Pretty – 1 – £1,272,154 – £1,272,154
  3. A Quiet Place – 5 – £395,335 – £10,773,694
  4. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society – 3 – £357,429 – £4,293,764
  5. Rampage – 4 – £256,219 – £8,323,117
  6. Blade Runner: The Final Cut – £231,271 – £2,417,817
  7. The Strangers: Prey At Night – 1 – £205,325 – £205,325
  8. Tully – 1 – £138,674 – £138,674
  9. Peter Rabbit – 8 – £120,181 – £39,850,737
  10. Mary and the Witch’s Flower – 1 – £119,129 – £119,129
  11. The Greatest Showman – 19 – £90,458 – £46,208,734
  12. Lean On Pete – 1 – £85,597 – £85,597
  13. Black Panther – 12 – £74,561 – £50,379,585
  14. Truth or Dare – 4 – £70,624 – £2,400,490
  15. Narzeczony Na Niby – 1 – £70,196 – £70,196

Outside of the top 5, the UK charts seem to be waving goodbye to the likes of Black Panther, The Greatest Showman and Easter hit Peter Rabbit after hugely successful runs of over £39million each, while the re-released Blade Runner: The Final Cut seems to be making neat pockets full of cash (£231,271 this weekend) week after week to the point of being on the cusp of the top 5 despite being 36 years old.

Of the debuting films that didn’t make it into the top 5, it’s Tully that seems to have suffered the worst fate, earning just £138,674 over the three day period to add to the misery brought on by its somewhat woeful 6th placed $4million opening in North America. Written and directed by the same writer-director duo that took Juno to the Oscars, and starring marketable names like Charlize Theron, there seems to be little explanation as to why the film has bombed so drastically, with Infinity War’s success not offering a substantial enough explanation for it considering that the real competition was everything else on offer in cinemas across the UK, US and Canada.

And that about does it for this week’s UK Box Office Report. This coming weekend will likely be very important in judging how far Infinity War can go at the UK and worldwide box office, and will be the final chance for the film to own cinemas worldwide before Deadpool 2 hits cinemas next week (16th of May) to offer the first major contender to Infinity War’s chart-topping throne. As always, you’ll be able to catch the top 5 highest grossing movies of the week via our YouTube channel (released on Tuesdays), and we’ll keep you updated via our homepage [bookmark us!], Facebook and Twitter.



Leave a Comment