Avengers: Age Of Ultron has planted a superhero-size flag in the Middle Kingdom. Bowing yesterday in China, it grossed $33.9M (210.5M yuan) for Disney/Marvel’s biggest ever opening day in the market. The first day for Joss Whedon’s mash-up was nearly double Iron Man 3 and more than Avengers‘ initial two-day haul in 2012. The Tuesday debut is the top non-weekend opening day ever and accounted for a record-breaking 95.5% of the box office. The film’s worldwide total is getting ever closer to $1B with $932.2M to date. The international total is now $607.4M; domestic is $324.8M.
Yesterday was also a further 2015 milestone for Disney as it crossed the $2B mark at the global box office for the 14th consecutive year. Key drivers include Ultron, Cinderella, Into The Woods, and Big Hero 6. There are several more big-ticket titles to come from Disney including Pixar’s Inside Out, which is about to debut here at the Cannes Film Festival, Tomorrowland and Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Ultron has continued to play strongly around the world, but will face the post-apocalyptic might of Mad Max: Fury Road and the Barden Bellas of Pitch Perfect 2 this weekend. It has a clear path in China for the next couple of weeks and still has Japan to release on July 4.
