Recently, Avengers: Infinity War, the most ambitious crossover since Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, broke Fandango’s record for pre-sales for a superhero film. It only needed six hours to do that, leap-frogging over previous record holders The Black Panther and Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. According to the same Variety article, Avengers: Infinity War outsold The Black Panther’s total-month ticket sales in a single day on Atom Tickets.

Since it is a Marvel Studios film, people are going to see it regardless. However, does it have a shot at breaking the opening weekend box office record of $248 million, held by Star Wars: The Force Awakens? Yes, and here’s why.

The Hype Is Through the Roof

After the trailer dropped, all the internet talked about was the Infinity War trailer and examined it like a college final. It is the third most watched trailer in 24 hours. The last time a trailer gave the internet this many goosebumps was The Force Awakens. Sure, The Last Jedi trailers got people buzzing, but you could feel the electricity in the air after Han said, “Chewie, we’re home.” You get the same feeling with Avengers: Infinity War. 

The Black Panther and Thor: Ragnarok’s Massive Success

Who would have thought The Black Panther would A) open at over $200 million and B) take the top spot for the weekend box office for five straight weeks? Not me, and if you asked people at Marvel, I think a few would say “No” as well.

“Is it because you’re not ‘woke’?”

No, it’s because you didn’t sense that same anticipation for The Black Panther as something like Jurassic World or any of the Avengers films. But hey, here we are. With that being said, Infinity War will be riding the success of the surprise hit of the year. And since everyone and their cousin saw the king of Wakanda’s solo movie and liked it, it’ll mean that many more people will be seeing him teaming up with the rest of the Marvel Universe again (he debuted in the MCU in Captain America: Civil War).

Also, we can’t forget Avengers: Infinity War is continuing the story set up at the end of Thor: Ragnarok. 

This is the first time we see the God of Thunder as the true ruler of what is left of Asgard. The 2017 movie made $854 at the box office and is a fan favorite (I prefer the first Thor film myself). So, not only does Avengers: Infinity War have one successful lead-in, it has two to boot.

The Film Is Breaking Pre-Sales Records Left and Right

Numbers never lie. As mentioned at the top of the article, Infinity War broke Fandango’s pre-sale records for a superhero movie. AMC announced the upcoming movie outsold every single superhero movie in their chain in the span of 72 hours. According to Screenrant, Avengers: Infinity War outsold The Black Panther by over 250 percent, Captain America: Civil War by over 700 percent, and Avengers: Age of Ultron by over 1000 percent for AMC Theater’s pre-sales!!!!

Considering The Black Panther made $202 million, Captain America: Civil War made $176 million, and Avengers: Age of Ultron made $187 million on their opening weekends, I’d easily estimate Infinity War will top Marvel’s all-time opening weekend record holder of The Avengers ($207 million).

Now, comparing that to The Force Awakens, this is where things get interesting. When the 2015 smash hit arrived in theaters, it was already Fandango’s top-selling film of all-time. They didn’t qualify it as “the top selling science fiction film”; it was the top film, period. It was the first Star Wars film in theaters in 10 years. Infinity War is the first Marvel film in two months, so it isn’t filling a void per se. However…

EVERYBODY Is in This Movie

Not only will we see Spider-Man team up with the Avengers again, we will see Dr. Strange get in the mix as well as the Guardians of the Galaxy (something Captain America: Civil War can’t claim). It will truly be the first time we see everyone who’s been in a Marvel Studios film on-screen together. This is like The Avengers times three, guys. We get The Avengers, the Winter Soldier, probably some side characters like Pepper Potts, Aunt May, and possibly Dr. Selvig from Thor. Maybe The Defenders or the Agents of SHIELD make an appearance?

The fact that this movie boasts a huge cast of characters people love is certainly a huge selling point. It will certainly put butts in seats!

I do sense more anticipation for this film compared to previous Marvel Studios movies. The only other movie I can compare it to in hype-level is The Avengers back in 2012.

It Kicks Off the Summer Blockbuster Season

For the past 15 years, the first big movie of the summer opens on or around the first weekend in May. More often than not, it’s been a superhero film. All three Iron Man films, both Avengers movies, Captain America: Civil War, Thor, and two of the three original Spider-Man films all opened on the first weekend in May and opened big! Since this is opening the last weekend of April, the blockbuster season has moved one week earlier. Keep in mind Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Fast Five, Furious 7, and Fate of the Furious all had April openings and those movies did pretty well.

With all those cold, hard facts, I do see Avengers: Infinity War taking the record for opening weekend box office. They hype is unreal, the movie is breaking pre-sale records, and has two successful lead-ins. If I had to estimate a guess right now, I would say around $260 million. The closer we get to the opening weekend of Avengers: Infinity War, we should get more solid numbers for opening weekend estimates.

Do you think Avengers: Infinity War will break the opening weekend box office number of The Force Awakens? Hit me up in the comment section below.