Avengers: Endgame — Marvel tentpole hauls $83 million in China by early afternoon on opening day

As anticipated, Avengers: Endgame is off to a record-breaking spree in China. The film, which arrived in China theatres two days before the worldwide release, has racked up an astronomical $83 million by 2 pm (11:30 am IST) on its opening day, reports Variety.

Currently, the highest-earning foreign film in China is 2017’s The Fate of the Furious, which has collected $393 million during the course of its run in the country. According to the aforementioned report, Endgame has the potential to haul in total of $521 million, as per its opening day ticket sales. Generally, foreign movies are given a window of four weeks for its screening, but movies that perform exceptionally well may be given an extension by the authorities.

The MCU film brought home a whopping $110 million with its ticket pre-sales ahead of its opening on Tuesday and has dethroned Chinese film Monster Hunt 2, which sold $59.6 million.

The last film in the Avengers saga, Endgame is a follow-up to the events of Infinity War, which ended with Thanos obliterating half of all life in the universe with a snap of his finger. As of now, Infinity War is the 11th-highest-grossing title of all time and the third top grossing import film in China. _Endgame’_s grand predecessor had its biggest debut of all time in China with a $191 million three-day opening weekend.

According to The Hollywood Reporter , Endgame could amass as much as $270 million during its five-day debut, and could hugely benefit from China’s Labour day partial holiday, which coincides with its second week run.

For the rest of the world, Endgame storms into theatres on 26 April.