ErikLundegaard.com - From 'Empire Strikes Back' to 'The Avengers': A Short History of the Biggest Opening Weekends in Recent Movie History

From 'Empire Strikes Back' to 'The Avengers': A Short History of the Biggest Opening Weekends in Recent Movie History

Here's a list of whichever movie has held the opening-weekend box-office record since 1980:

Release	Movie	Opening	% of Total	Theaters	Total Gross
6/20/1980	The Empire Strikes Back	$10,840,307	5%	823	$209,398,025
6/19/1981	Superman II	$14,100,523	13%	1,397	$108,185,706
6/4/1982	Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan	$14,347,221	18%	1,621	$78,912,963
5/25/1983	Return of the Jedi	$23,019,618	9%	1,002	$252,583,617
5/23/1984	Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom	$25,337,110	14%	1,687	$179,870,271
5/20/1987	Beverly Hills Cop II	$26,348,555	17%	2,326	$153,665,036
5/24/1989	Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade	$29,355,021	15%	2,327	$197,171,806
6/16/1989	Ghostbusters II	$29,472,894	26%	2,410	$112,494,738
6/23/1989	Batman	$40,489,746	16%	2,194	$251,188,924
6/19/1992	Batman Returns	$45,687,711	28%	2,644	$162,831,698
6/11/1993	Jurassic Park	$47,026,828	13%	2,404	$357,067,947
6/16/1995	Batman Forever	$52,784,433	29%	2,842	$184,031,112
5/23/1997	The Lost World: Jurassic Park	$72,132,785	32%	3,281	$229,086,679
11/16/2001	Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone	$90,294,621	28%	3,672	$317,575,550
5/3/2002	Spider-Man	$114,844,116	28%	3,615	$403,706,375
7/7/2006	Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest	$135,634,554	32%	4,133	$423,315,812
5/4/2007	Spider-Man 3	$151,116,516	45%	4,252	$336,530,303
7/18/2008	The Dark Knight	$158,411,483	30%	4,366	$533,345,358
7/15/2011	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2	$169,189,427	44%	4,375	$381,011,219
5/4/2012	The Avengers	$200,300,000	100%	4,349	$200,300,000

source: Box Office Mojo

A lot of lame sequels here: “Superman II,” “Beverly Hills Cop II,” “Ghostbusters II,” “The Lost World: Jurassic Park,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest,” and “Spider-Man 3.” They're sugary and contain no nutritional value. Think of them as the jujubes of movies.

The title for biggest opener flipped nine times in the 1980s, including three times within a month (May/June 1989) before “Batman” finally shredded the competition. Interesting seeing a few comedies in the mix. It's not just the Indiana Joneses and Luke Skywalkers battling it out; Murphy and Murray get in their punches, too.

Only two record-holders in the 1990s: Batman (three versions) and dinosaurs (two versions). The aughts began with Harry, swung over to Spidey, who got stumbled over by Capt. Jack Sparrow, who got thwipped by Spidey again, who got coldcocked by the Dark Knight. Then it was the boy wizard until Earth's Mightiest Heroes stormed onto the scene this past weekend.

That's a helluva jump, by the way: $169 million to $200 million. If it holds, it'll be the biggest jump for any new record-holder over the previous record-holder, besting Spidey's $24 million jump over Harry in 2001. That 18% advantage, though, while remarkable, isn't close to the best percentage leap, since “Jedi” bested “Khan” by 60% back in 1983. No one's going to do that anymore. Not even James Cameron.

Speaking of: the list is most interesting for what's not on it, namely “E.T.,” “Titanic” and “Avatar.” Our most popular movies.

OK, so they weren't all winners...

UPDATE: According to weekend actuals, “The Avengers” actually did better than projected: $207,438,708. Meaning it beat the last “Harry,” the previous record holder, by $38 million. Percentage-wise, that's a 22% jump, which is the biggest jump since “Spider-Man” bested “Jurassic Park II” by 27%. Since then, the record has been broken in the following incremental fashion: 18%, 11%, 4%, 6%. “Earth's Mightiest Heroes,” indeed.

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From 'Empire Strikes Back' to 'The Avengers': A Short History of the Biggest Opening Weekends in Recent Movie History

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