Box Office: ‘Pokemon’ Nearly Topples ‘Avengers: Endgame’ with $58 Million Debut

WB’s Pokémon: Detective Pikachu nearly toppled Marvel superhero juggernaut Avengers: Endgame with a strong $58 million opening. But Ironman, Captain America, and Thor held onto the top spot at the box office for the third week running.

Endgame pulled in another $63 million over the weekend, adding up to a $723.5 million domestic box office take according to Box Office Mojo. Endgame is only the third of four films to ever top $700 million in a domestic release. Marvel’s latest superhero flick joins Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Avatar, and Black Panther in the category.

Endgame is also closing in on the top grossing movie of all time. With $2.485 billion in the bank, the film is close to toppling current top earner, Avatar. The James Cameron extravaganza still holds the record for earning $2.788 billion in its first release. Endgame, though, could easily bring in another $302 million before its first tour through theaters is done.

Finishing in a strong second was WB’s Pokémon: Detective Pikachu with an estimated $58 million since its premiere on Thursday. The strong opening earned Pikachu the number one sport for an opening of a movie based on a video game, topping 2001’s Lara Croft Tomb Raider ($47.7m).

Internationally, the Ryan Reynolds voiced live-action/animated film brought in about $103 million, perhaps unsurprisingly doing best in Japan where it tallied a $13 million box office take.

In third place, UA Releasing’s comedy The Hustle earned $13.5 million, ahead of the $12 million forecasts. The comedy remake starring Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson also pulled in $13.7 million overseas.

Sony’s The Intruder, featuring star Dennis Quaid turned into a psychotic killer, was able to stick in the top five, coming in fourth in box office earnings with another $6.6 million for its second weekend in theaters. The film has thus far pulled in $21 million during its ten days in theaters.

Filling out the top five weekend films is eOne and STXfilms’s Poms with an estimated $5.1 million opening. However, the opening for the Diane Keaton film about senior citizens starting a cheerleading squad is a big disappointment for the studios which had expected the film to bring in at least $8.5 million.

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.