Movies & TV / Columns
With Avengers: Endgame, Are We in a Pop Culture Golden Age?
Let’s talk about some of the more fantastic items that we are lucky to be witnessing. Put aside our differences in what’s better between Star Wars and Star Trek. Stop with debating the pros and cons of the Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings movies.
Let’s take a moment and just enjoy that we are living in a pretty awesome time to be a fan.
This weekend will most likely be noted in the future as the pinnacle of pop culture. As I write this I’m awaiting the third episode of the Game of Thrones final season, which will most likely draw massive ratings and be discussed for some time.
The season eight premiere of Game of Thrones scooped a series record of 17.4 million viewers on Sunday night, according to HBO. That number includes 11.8 million TV viewers who watched the on Sunday night. The rest of the tally watched two encore presentations, combined with those who streamed the show with the HBO Go or HBO Now apps. It had the “largest night of streaming activity ever for HBO,” according to the network.
I have a feeling that tonight’s episode, Battle of Winterfell, will top those numbers.
Let’s talk about the big news item though. No matter what your thoughts about Marvel’s cinematic universe, this weekend’s box office is absolutely mind boggling.
The opening weekend of Avengers: Endgame buried box office records with a stunning $350 million in North America and $1.2 billion worldwide.
$1.2 BILLION in its opening weekend.
That’s stunning. The movie captured audiences, accounting for more than four of every five tickets sold domestically. Avengers: Endgame topped the year-old Avengers: Infinity War records by nearly $100 million domestically and an almost unreal $560 million worldwide. China generated an unheard of $329 million over its five-day launch weekend. Endgame is the 22nd movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and those movies have now made $19 billion in worldwide box office.
Nitpick. Complain. Dread it. Run from it. The bottomline is this movie delivered in every way.
I attended Awesome Con in DC this weekend and the sheer amount of attendees and participation is a testament to the times we live in. Just a quick scan of my timeline on social media told me a number of conventions took place this weekend, and each were well attended. Fans of Marvel, Star Wars, Star Trek, Game of Thrones, Doctor Who, The Walking Dead, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings,and a number other properties found a place to celebrate their fandom and I can’t think of any other time that this was possible, on this scale. Movies, TV, animation, video games, comic books, and novels, all enjoy deep levels of success.
Will it last forever? Of course not. The well only holds so much water but for one shining weekend, I think we can take a break from complaining and feel good about how far we’ve come in pop culture.
If you’re so moved, I’d be curious to see something positive in the comments below. Be it what you enjoy most about what you like or a recommendation for others.