Marvel studios are the king of the film industry. When the first Avengers debuted in 2012, it took the world by storm and opened the floodgates for ensemble superhero films. In 2015 we got a sequel, and the third film will open May of 2018.
However, it won’t be your standard Avengers film. Titled Avengers: Infinity War, the third film in the mega-franchise will be the culmination of everything Marvel’s offered over the last 10 years. We’ll see every single Marvel hero go up against Thanos in an all-out battle that will, actually, be split into two movies coming out a year apart.
Obviously, such a hire bar will surely cost a lot of money, with both the third and fourth Avengers film in the realm of passing the 1 billion mark. Currently, Infinity War is at that mark but, when including its second half, which is the fourth Avengers film, surpassing 1 billion is inevitable. The current movie that holds the largest budget record is James Cameron’s Avatar, coming in at $425 million. Taking into account both Avengers movies, all the stars and special effects, Avatar will likely pale in comparison. Also, before Avatar, it was Cameron’s Titanic that held that record.
A big factor is an overseas market in China. In the past few years, the Chinese audiences have spent more money on American movies, so directors do more to cater to the Chinese audience. An example would be in the latest Transformers film, half of that took place in China. There are even Chinese specific scenes only filmed for that audience, like in Iron Man 3.
Infinity War is scheduled to release May 4th, 2018. It’s everything the Marvel Cinematic Universe has built up to since the release of Iron Man in 2008. It’ll not only be a celebration of the past decade of success, but also a milestone of filmmaking.