SINGAPORE - Avengers: Endgame has broken Singapore box office records by ringing up $7.52 million in ticket sales during its Wednesday (April 24) to Sunday (April 28) opening weekend.

The Marvel superhero movie, the second of a two-part story, beat the $6.13 million five-day opening weekend record set last year (2018) by the first chapter, Avengers: Infinity War.

Endgame had built up such great anticipation in Singapore that when sales opened on the morning of April 10, the rush of online bookings crashed the servers of most cinema chains, with scalpers offering tickets at inflated prices on selling forums.

Mr Stephen Yew, 43, an IT engineer, caught the movie on Saturday (April 27). Like many others, he was eager to know how the story ends. He adds: "I want to avoid hearing spoilers on social media," explaining why he had to catch the movie so early in its run.

Globally, the film has become the first in history to cross the US$1 billion (S$1.36 billion) mark in its first weekend, with its estimated worldwide take of US$1.2 billion. It took in US$350 million in North America and US$330.5 million in China, the world's second-largest movie market.

To make up for Endgame's longer-than-usual running time of three hours, local cinema operators have added early morning and post-midnight screenings.

A spokesman for Singapore's second-largest cinema chain, Shaw Theatres, says that almost every screening, including the early morning ones at around 7.30am and very late night ones at 1.50am, sold out.

"All our Imax halls were sold-out, including Lido, Waterway Point, JCube and the new next-generation Imax with Laser at Shaw Theatres Jewel. The same goes for all our premium offerings like premiere at Nex and Lumiere at Jewel, as well as our dedicated family hall Dreamers."

Given the film's popularity, it is expected to take the crown of Singapore's highest-grossing film of all time away from Infinity War, which earned $16.2 million last year (2018).