'Avengers: Endgame' sets records with $1.2B opening weekend

Combine the powers of a team of Marvel superheroes into one film and what do you get? A colossal, record-setting box office debut.

Marvel Studios’ “Avengers: Endgame” set the record for biggest opening weekend, bringing in an estimated $1.2 billion globally. That shattered the previous record set by another Marvel film, “Avengers: Infinity Wars,” which raked in more than $640.5 million in its opening weekend a year ago. Domestically, “Endgame” grossed $350 million, or close to $93 million more than “Infinity Wars.”

The record weekend box office numbers even beat the studio’s own estimates. The movie was expected to gross between $260 million and $300 million in U.S. and Canadian theaters.

Alan Horn, chairman of The Walt Disney Studios, praised Marvel Studios and its President Kevin Feige for the success of the latest film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, saying they have “continued to challenge notions of what is possible at the movie theatre both in terms of storytelling and at the box office.”

“This weekend’s monumental success is a testament to the world they’ve envisioned, the talent involved, and their collective passion, matched by the irrepressible enthusiasm of fans around the world,” Horn added.

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Disney released the movie in 4,662 theaters in the U.S. and Canada – more than any other opening – due to the high demand, and it grossed $75,075 per theater, according to Box Office Mojo. The previous record was also set by “Infinity Wars,” which opened in 4,474 theaters and earned $57,599 per location.

So far, movie review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes has given the film a 96 percent score, which is the highest of all Marvel films except “Black Panther,” which was released early last year.

The Associated Press contributed to this report