Avengers: Endgame's Box Office Record Was Just Beaten

Avengers: Endgame's record for biggest opening weekend at the box office in a single market has just fallen. Detective Chinatown 3 opened in China this weekend and it made a gargantuan $397.2 million USD over the weekend, which crushes Avengers: Endgame ($357 million USD) to set a new record for biggest opening in a single market, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Endgame's record was for North America, which is historically one of the most lucrative movie markets in the world. China is a massive market for movies as well, ranking just behind North America in terms of annual box office results, and it continues to grow as these numbers show.

Detective Chinatown 3 is projected to end its run at $750 million USD, which would be good for the second-biggest film ever in China, only behind Wolf Warrior 2 ($874 million USD).

The movie was written and directed by Chen Sicheng, with Wang Baoqiang and Liu Haoran returning to play detectives who get in way over their heads. The first movie was set in Bangkok, while the sequel moved to New York City. The third film takes place in Tokyo, and it includes Thor: Ragnarok actor Tadanobu Asano in a lead role. Asano will be seen next as Raiden in the Mortal Kombat movie.

Detective Chinatown 3 had been delayed an entire year before it was released over the weekend. As such, the Wanda Pictures film was highly anticipated, and it opened on the first day of the Lunar New Year holiday, which no doubt helped box office figures.

The North American movie market has yet to recover like it has in China and many films remain postponed or delayed.