Los Angeles: It was a record-breaking weekend for the North American box office as "Avengers: Infinity War" steamrolled the competition with heroic takings of $250 million, industry estimates showed on Sunday.
The latest Marvel big-hitter after the breakout success of "Black Panther," "Avengers" sees a string of superheroes pitch in to save the universe from powerful purple alien Thanos (Josh Brolin).
Comebacks include Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man, Benedict Cumberbatch´s Doctor Strange, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, and Chris Hemsworth as Thor.
Also back for more are the Black Panther, Captain America, the Hulk, Spider-Man and Hawkeye, as well as the Guardians of the Galaxy and their assorted allies.
Globally, "Avengers" -- the third film in the "Avengers" saga and the 19th in the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise -- also broke records, clinching the highest worldwide opening of all time with a dizzying $630 million.
At US and Canadian box offices, sci-fi horror "A Quiet Place" came in at second -- but posed no threat whatsoever to the "Avengers" victory -- earning $10.7 million in its fourth weekend.
That brings total takings to $148 million for Paramount´s near-wordless production, which stars actor/director John Krasinski and real-life wife Emily Blunt as a couple silently struggling to protect their family from blind aliens that track their prey by sound.
Third place, earning $8.1 million, went to "I Feel Pretty," an Amy Schumer film about a self-conscious woman who suffers a head injury and subsequently sees herself as beautiful.
Last week´s number two, "Rampage," dropped into fourth place, earning $7.1 million for a total of $77.9 million in three weeks.
The film follows Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson as a primatologist who befriends an albino gorilla -- which grows to enormous size after a rogue experiment before teaming up with Johnson against invading monsters.
Fifth place saw a resurgence of "Black Panther" into the top five, up from eighth place last week.
After 11 weeks in theaters, the superhero smash hit starring Chadwick Boseman as T´Challa, king of the African utopia of Wakanda, took $4.3 million -- bringing its total earnings to a mind-boggling $688 million.
Rounding out the top 10 were:
"Super Troopers 2" ($3.6 million)
"Truth or Dare" ($3.2 million)
"Blockers" ($2.9 million)
"Ready Player One" ($2.4 million)
"Traffik" ($1.6 million)
