China loves the Avengers.
The franchise has proven itself more than ready to appeal to the world’s fastest-growing film market, and has consistently raked in major box office revenues (Infinity War took in 447 million RMB on opening day last year).
Now, Avengers: Endgame has eclipsed all previous records for box office debuts in China, topping out at 719 million RMB on its opening day — around 107 million USD. Update: It’s now taken over 200 million USD and looks set to power through the 300 million USD mark this weekend in China following a 1 billion USD opening worldwide.
China’s moviegoers are known to favor colorful, high-budget Hollywood action, and superhero films tend to perform well. But Endgame’s opening day performance is still stunning, shattering the previous record of 547 million RMB held by Monster Hunt 2.
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Online, Marvel fans are mobilizing. Review aggregating social network Douban holds the movie at a 9/10, stacking up 158,000 reviews in a few short days, 64% of which rate it 5/5 stars. Some reviews point to the emotional attachment that Chinese audiences feel towards the series:
“I was born in the ’90s, and I used to admire the older generation,” reads one top-rated review. “40 years ago, audiences watched Star Wars in theaters. 20 years ago, it was Lord of the Rings… now we have another common memory: the Marvel movie universe. Thank you, Avengers.”
“You gave me the best eleven years of my life,” reads another sentimental review. “Thank you, Marvel, thank you for giving my youth a perfect ending.”
Meanwhile on microblogging platform Weibo, different hashtags have started to take root following the film’s release. Perhaps most interesting is #GreatAmericanButts, which celebrates key moments of onscreen booty from Chris Evans, who plays Captain America.
Other Avengers past and present are getting plenty of affection from fans as the series seemingly draws to a close as well. Another post getting lots of love on Weibo is a highlight reel of fan-favorite moments from actor Tom Hiddleston.
Hiddleston is kind of a cult hit in China, as evidenced by his recent and bizarre ad for Centrum vitamins, which casts the viewer as the actor’s Chinese partner:
So China’s internet is awash with reactions and fandom. No surprise there, really — but American audiences will have to wait until Friday’s domestic release date before they can offer up their own responses.
