Disney says 'Avengers: Endgame' will break the US opening-weekend box-office record with $300 million

Disney is projecting “Avengers: Endgame” to make $300 million this weekend in the US, which would break the opening-weekend box-office record.The movie grossed a record $60 million in Thursday preview screenings.AMC Theatres says it is opening 17 theaters in the US for 72 hours straight in anticipation of high demand this weekend.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.A storm is brewing, and it could destroy the box-office record this weekend.Disney said on Friday that it is “cautiously projecting” Avengers: Endgame“ to gross $300 million this weekend, which would break the opening-weekend box-office record set by ”Avengers: Infinity War“ last year.The movie made a record $60 million in Thursday preview screenings, topping the $57 million that ”Star Wars: The Force Awakens“ made.Early estimates from box-office experts lined up with Disney's. Both Boxoffice.com and Box Office Mojo estimated ”Endgame“ to make at least $300 million in final projections on Thursday.The movie broke the movie-ticket service Fandango's records for most presale tickets sold in both the first day and the first week. In its first week, it was selling five times as many tickets as ”Avengers: Infinity War“ did over the same period.Read more: Demand is so high for 'Avengers: Endgame' that many AMC theaters will be open 24 hours a day all weekendAMC Theatres on Monday announced that 17 of its theaters in the US would be open for 72 hours straight, Thursday through Sunday, this weekend in anticipation of high demand for ”Endgame.“ Twenty-nine AMC theaters will be open 24 hours from Thursday through Friday, and 18 will be open Thursday through Saturday. AMC said the movie broke its presale record as well.”The week before its release is the calm before the cinematic storm, that will only build momentum to a crescendo,“ Exhibitor Relations senior box-office analyst Jeff Bock said.”Shazam!“ hit theaters on April 5, and ”Hellboy“ followed a week later on April 12. This past week saw no major release aside from the new horror movie ”The Curse of La Llorona,“ giving ”Endgame“ little competition.If ”Endgame“ breaks the opening-weekend record, its next goal will be the $2.05 billion that ”Infinity War“ ultimately grossed worldwide. But it will have to beat ”Avatar's $2.8 billion global gross to be the biggest movie ever.