The Biggest April of All Time at the Box Office Isn’t What You Think

April was once thought as the quiet patch before summertime. Here was a month for counterprogramming movies and maybe the occasional sleeper family film hit before the “real” box office juggernauts hit the marketplace. Today, though, April is a go-to launchpad for some of the biggest movies of all time. Thanks to titles like Captain America: The Winter Soldier and especially Furious 7, Hollywood now views April as sacred ground where box office history can be made. Two of the biggest domestic opening weekends of all-time even occurred in April.

Given how lucrative April’s become in recent years, it’s worth considering what the biggest April of all time is at the domestic box office. In terms of cumulative numbers, the result may surprise you, but that’s just a microcosm of how shockingly lucrative this month’s become in recent years. April is no longer the outcast of box office months, but rather a domain where the biggest hits can thrive.

Avengers: Endgame Unlocked New April Box Office Heights

April 2018 was the first April in history to clear $1+ billion domestically with a $1.026 billion cume buoyed heavily by Avengers: Infinity War. Fittingly, a year later, April 2019 narrowly exceeded April 2018 to score the biggest April ever in North America thanks to Avengers: Endgame’s mammoth performance. Endgame secured the biggest domestic opening ever with $357.1 million over April 2019’s final weekend. Though it only played in the month for five days, Endgame contributed a whopping $427.09 million to this month’s gross, or roughly 41% of the entire month.

Also in this month, Shazam! grossed $132 million while fellow Marvel Cinematic Universe title Captain Marvel grossed an additional $61.39 million. Other April 2019 newcomers like The Curse of La Llorona and The Best of Enemies weren’t very impressive in their respective domestic box office runs, but they didn’t need to break the bank to ensure April 2019 made box office history. Just two years earlier, April 2017, thanks to The Fate of the Furious grossing $193.26 million in the month, grossed $811.66 million, the first time in history a single April grossed over $800 million domestically. That already heavy gross had quickly been superseded thanks to the appeal of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

The sight of multiple Aprils at the domestic box office clearing $1+ billion had to be a shock to movie studio executives. As late as 2008, this month only accumulated $500.44 million while April 2013 could only muster up $634.36 million. However, the presence of a must-see cultural event like these two Avengers sequels had changed the April box office paradigm. Less than year before COVID-19 would shut down theaters and forever alter the domestic box office landscape, April 2019 redefined all box office rules by becoming the biggest North American April in history.

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That April Mario Gave Endgame a Run for Its Money

Since April 2019, the month ruled by Avengers: Endgame hasn’t been topped. Unless A Minecraft Movie really explodes in theaters, it’s doubtful April 2025 will overtake this record. However, April 2023 came awfully close to making history with an impressive $899.48 million haul. A little over half of that ($490.85 million, to be precise) came from The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which overperformed all expectations for how high video game movies could go at the domestic box office. No other April 2023 newcomer grossed over $50 million in this month, a sign that, if some other major new April 2023 release had really broken out, this month might’ve dethroned April 2019 as the biggest April ever.

Still, April 2023’s $899.48 million haul is incredibly impressive, given all the hurdles the domestic box office has faced in the 2020s. Those woes continue well into 2025 thanks to recent underperformers like Snow White and Mickey 17. April 2023, though, showed that the domestic box office could drum up figures evoking pre-COVID times. One of the highest-grossing months since theaters shut down in March 2020, April 2023’s box office haul was a mighty big win for theaters in such a challenging landscape.

It was also yet another sign that April could house box office figures on par with a typical June or July at the domestic box office. Recent hits like The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Avengers: Endgame have propelled April to box office heights once thought unthinkable for a “burn-off” month. The April box office has changed dramatically in recent years. For proof of that, look no further than the biggest April of all-time at the domestic box office and its “heroic” numbers.

Avengers: Endgame is now streaming on Disney+.