Monday 29 April 2019 11:34 am | Updated: Monday 03 June 2019 12:20 am

Avengers: Endgame smashes worldwide box office record, taking $1.2bn in debut weekend

The newest Marvel film has beaten box office records with a huge $1.2bn (£929m) around the world in opening ticket sales.

Avengers: Endgame, which opened in the UK on Thursday, has beaten the record set by the previous film in the Marvel superhero franchise, last year’s Avengers: Infinity War, to have the most successful opening run in box office history.

This puts the blockbuster on track to outperform James Cameron’s 2009 sci-fi epic Avatar as the highest grossing film of all time.

It would join others from the Avengers franchise among the biggest blockbusters, with Avengers: Infinity War at number four, and 2012’s The Avengers coming sixth in the list of highest-ever grossing films.

As well as taking a record $350m in the US, Endgame was also able to top the box office in the Chinese market, with $330m in ticket sales. It means it is already the fourth most successful non-local film ever released in China.

The film, which includes among its ensemble cast British stars like Benedict Cumberbatch and Tom Holland, has also been a hit with critics, earning a 96 percent rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.

“Kevin Feige and the Marvel Studios team have continued to challenge notions of what is possible at the movie theater both in terms of storytelling and at the box office,” Alan Horn, chairman of Walt Disney Studios, said in a statement.

"Though Endgame is far from an end for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, these first 22 films constitute a sprawling achievement, and this weekend's monumental success is a testament to the world they've envisioned, the talent involved, and their collective passion, matched by the irrepressible enthusiasm of fans around the world."

Endgame is the 22nd Marvel Studios movie since 2008's Iron Man kicked off its modern superhero franchise.