The Avengers changed everything we knew about comic book movies, as well as franchise movies in general. Never before had a shared universe been so built up only to conclude with such an epic pay off at the end of the line. With a $207 million opening weekend, the film sits atop the rankings of biggest opening weekends ever, and with good reason. Of course, this naturally means that the success of The Avengers: Age Of Ultron is going to be measured on that scale, but early reports indicate that won’t be a big issue. As things currently stand, it looks like the summer blockbuster won’t just meet that challenge – it'll exceed it!
By just how much? Well, according to Bloomberg Business, it looks like the Joss Whedon helmed sequel will net an estimated $217 million in its opening weekend. That might be only $10 million past the high water mark set by its predecessor, but considering how saturated the market is with Marvel Studios films, and that any number would struggle to hit that mark, every million counts.
This sort of prediction is vital to studios like Disney and Marvel, simply because these estimates factor into the profit picture of the studio's film division. Bloomberg reports that Disney has been talking a huge game, what with Frozen still raking in obscene amounts of cash for pretty much all of 2014, and with Marvel scoring two huge hits with Guardians Of The Galaxy and Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Stock offerings, public perception, and even the studio's moods towards developing projects that are a little riskier, like that newly resurfaced Tron sequel, are all in the balance with The Avengers: Age Of Ultron's perceived ability to perform in its first few days. Obviously these initial estimates are making the two studios look quite good.
Will Earth's mightiest heroes take the massive success that Marvel has been experiencing in recent years to the next level? Will audiences smash the 2012 record, or is The Avengers: Age Of Ultron the straw that breaks Marvel Studio's back? House money is clearly on the former, but it will be interesting just see just how long the winning streak will continue, – especially if the embattled Ant-Man doesn't live up to the huge lead-in it'll be getting. Arguably one of the most important functions The Avengers: Age Of Ultron will hopefully serve is both rising the tide for all superhero ships, and potentially serve as damage control for any sort of underwhelming grosses that might be on the horizon. While Cinderella and Tomorrowland are both looking good, they're still a little uncertain in such a crowded market. If they aren't careful, either film could be the next John Carter - another well intentioned flop that needed some heroes in its hour of need. Fortunately, Avengers 2 is looking to make enough money for at least two big releases.
The Avengers: Age Of Ultron will be rolling into theaters and potentially setting box office records when it rolls into theaters on May 1st.
