Avengers Endgame Box Office: A Strong Opening From Detective Pikachu Isn't Enough

For the first time since it began its run a few weeks ago, Avengers: Endgame was actually tested at the weekend box office. The latest from the Marvel Cinematic Universe got all it could handle thanks to a strong opening weekend from Detective Pikachu, but in the end, Cap and company are still hanging out on top. They did just enough to keep the first place position though it's hard to imagine anyone involved with the Pokemon Company is too upset about an opening over $50M.

You can check out the full results from this weekend's box office, including those from newcomers Detective Pikachu, The Hustle, Poms and Tolkien below...

Swipe to scroll horizontally
FIELD1FIELD2FIELD3FIELD4FIELD5
Movie TitleWeekend AmountTotal AmountChart Position Last WeekNumber of Screens
Avengers: Endgame6305400072349973914662
Detective Pikachu58000000580000004202
The Hustle135362981353629803007
The Intruder66000002097512622222
Long Shot61250001973693533230
Poms5110000511000002750
UglyDolls39200001427279643652
Breakthrough24660003710680661902
Tolkien2153000215300001495
Captain Marvel181300042377707951504

This third weekend for Avengers: Endgame is probably a combination of word of mouth and repeat business. Most people who desperately want to see a movie that's heavy on spoilers will find a way to get there the first two weekends. So, the people left can probably be divided into two groups: those who were on the fence about seeing it and got talked into it by the overwhelming positivity and those who enjoyed it so much they felt the need to go back. Anecdotally, we've heard that a lot in our comment section here at CinemaBlend. People keep making comments like, "I noticed X on my second time through" or "I can't wait to see whether my viewpoint on X changes when I see it a second/ third time." So, you can deliver all of that credit to the people involved with the production itself. Disney might have an incredible hype machine to deliver on opening weekend, but that machine isn't delivering these results on the third weekend.

As for Detective Pikachu, $58M is a really solid opening weekend for a movie with an estimated $150M budget. There have been high high hopes for awhile from both the studio and from fans that the film would produce enough of a result to a launch a larger Pokemon-themed cinematic universe. I wouldn't say it's done enough yet, but that possibility is very much in play right now. As such, fans should keep their fingers crossed for a solid second weekend, some strong social media buzz and engagement and eventually good home entertainment sales.

Outside of Detective Pikachu, it's hard to be excited about any of the openings for new films this weekend. The Hustle at least broke eight figures in domestic grosses, but the reviews on it have not been good and it's hard to imagine a scenario in which it put up a good performance next weekend. The same could be said for Poms, though it's 29% score on Rotten Tomatoes makes it look like Toy Story 3 compared to The Hustle which was hammered (including by us) with a miserable 16%.

Things should get very interesting next weekend when John Wick 3 is added to the release schedule. I'd expect a first place finish for the assassin, but as we saw this week, Avengers: Endgame certainly isn't going down without a fight.

Mack Rawden
Editor In Chief

Mack Rawden is the Editor-In-Chief of CinemaBlend. He first started working at the publication as a writer back in 2007 and has held various jobs at the site in the time since including Managing Editor, Pop Culture Editor and Staff Writer. He now splits his time between working on CinemaBlend’s user experience, helping to plan the site’s editorial direction and writing passionate articles about niche entertainment topics he’s into. He graduated from Indiana University with a degree in English (go Hoosiers!) and has been interviewed and quoted in a variety of publications including Digiday. Enthusiastic about Clue, case-of-the-week mysteries, a great wrestling promo and cookies at Disney World. Less enthusiastic about the pricing structure of cable, loud noises and Tuesdays.