Infinity War Has Biggest Opening Ever in Canada

This post has been updated to reflect the official box office numbers

Avengers: Infinity War is projected to pass Star Wars: The Force Awakens for the biggest opening weekend of all time in Canada. To be certain, the latest from the Marvel Cinematic Universe has a chance to be the most successful movie of all time - worldwide, not just in the U.S. or Canada. It's already expected to shatter the global opening weekend record with a colossal $630 million total, putting it well past the halfway mark toward $1 billion.

It comes as a shock to precisely no one who's paid attention that Infinity War is going to be the biggest movie of the year, barring a miracle elsewhere at the box office. So it also shouldn't surprise anyone that the long-awaited Avengers sequel with an A CinemaScore, which also sets up many Marvel movies coming down the road, is not just a massive hit in the U.S. but also in its neighbor to the north. The early numbers are in for Infinity War in Canada, and they're appropriately historic.

As revealed in a press release from Disney Canada, Infinity War is projected to edge out Star: Wars The Force Awakens at the Canadian box office with $19.7 million, compared to $18.6 million for TFA. And fittingly enough, the top-5 is rounded out by fellow Avengers and Star Wars movies. The Last Jedi had the third-biggest Canadian opening weekend with $17.2 million, followed by the original Avengers with $15.6 million and Age of Ultron with $13.8 million.

Infinity War is ostensibly confirmed as the biggest opening ever in Canada, but the press release noted that the official numbers won't be out until Monday. Either way, there's no stopping the movie from dominating the U.S. box office, where it's expected to finish with over $250 million, which also beats The Force Awakens for the biggest opening weekend ever. It also blew by The Fate of the Furious' worldwide record of $541.9 million, and it still hasn't had the benefit of opening in China yet. And in the grand scheme of things, Infinity War helps the MCU pass $15 billion globally.

Simply put, Infinity War is indeed the unstoppable box office beast it was expected to be all along. It also leaves some open questions at the end, which could only mean bigger things for upcoming MCU movies. Despite the massive buildup and hype, it's hugely impressive that an Avengers movie has bested all of Disney's new Star Wars offerings. The question now is whether it can pass TFA's total numbers and/or become the first movie ever to pass $1 billion in the domestic box office alone. It has a very good chance to pass $2 billion worldwide, but the real target here is Avatar's $2.78 billion as the all-time global leader.

Despite Avengers: Infinity War's resounding victory in its opening weekend, it's a little curious that it just barely beat The Force Awakens for the biggest Canadian opening weekend. But perhaps the final numbers are even bigger and the gap is even wider. The movie's dominance in Canada isn't quite what it'll be in the U.S. and overall around the world, but that doesn't take away from a movie that's off to a tremendous start in its journey to become the biggest cinematic event we've ever witnessed.