Avengers: Endgame Ushers in New Era of Storytelling: Shared Viewing Experience and Global Box Office Records

Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Endgame raked in $1.2 Billion in its opening weekend, the biggest opening of any film ever.

“Avengers: Endgame” brought in $1.2 billion its opening weekend at the worldwide box office, breaking prior Marvel Studio records set by “Avengers: Infinity War” at $640 million last year. “Avengers: Endgame” has become the only film in history to debut at the $1 billion mark, achieving this milestone in just five days as the film rolled out last week on Wednesday.

Domestically too, the film shattered records, besting the prior $258 million mark reached by “Avengers: Infinity War” with an estimated $350 million this past weekend, even surpassing analyst estimates. The film opened astronomically with $60 million on its first night domestically, besting “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” at $57 million in 2015.

Fans arrive for a costume contest before the first screening of ‘Avengers: Endgame’ at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. Photo by Frederic J. Brown, Agence France-Press/Getty Images

The film’s global earnings also exceeded by large measure, the prior record held by "The Fate of the Furious” in 2017. Of the $859 million earned globally, the last film in the Avengers series was very popular in China where the film made $330.5 million, becoming the most popular debut in China’s history.

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Photo by Chris Pizzello, AP

A New Era in Storytelling: Worldwide Platform and Shared Viewing Experience

“Avengers: Endgame” has become a worldwide cinematic event where movie theaters are rushing to add showtimes to keep up with audience demand as seats quickly sell out, with some theaters showing the film round the clock 24 hours a day. With a run time of more than three hours, “Endgame,” is showing nationwide at all hours to meet demand. Moviegoers are eager for the full cinematic experience, which includes premium 3-D IMAX tickets and AMX food and beverage, leading to the highest sales in history. “Endgame,” is playing in more than 4,600 theaters in the U.S. and Canada, which is the widest release of any film, according to box-office data firm Comscore.

“We’re watching a monumental moment in the history of cinema unfold - one that the entire world is experiencing together.”

— Shawn Robbins, Chief analyst at Boxoffice.com

Today moviegoers worldwide can enjoy almost simultaneous film releases, creating a global storytelling phenomenon. “Avengers: Endgame” is the last film in a series of popular films that are intricately woven with individual films throughout the Marvel universe, amounting to a total of 22 interconnected films.

“The pent-up factor, off the ending of ‘Infinity War’ and on the heels of ‘Captain Marvel,’ drove people to show up.”

— Cathleen Taff, Disney’s head of distribution

Over the last 11 years, Marvel has reigned at the box office, beginning with “Iron Man” in 2008. With so many interconnected story lines and characters appearing across films, Marvel has become a household name, along with its line up of eclectic superheroes ranging from Thor to Doctor Strange and Captain Marvel. Marvel’s remarkable continued success has also triggered competing studios to look for their own franchise wonders. Marvel’s slew of comic book heroes has also revitalized the exhibition industry and made American comic books a worldwide global export.

Image via WSJ and data from Boxoffice Mojo

“Though ‘Endgame’ is far from an end for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, these first 22 films constitute a sprawling achievement, and this weekend’s monumental success is a testament to the world they’ve envisioned.”

— Alan Horn, Walt Disney Studios' chairman

Creating films based on its founder Stan Lee’s comics, Marvel Studios has made almost $20 billion at the worldwide box office over the last 10 years. Few movies are so popular with moviegoers and also with critics. “Endgame” has a 96% score on review site, Rotten Tomatoes and an A+ CinemaScore.

Marvel’s excellent marketing of the most recent Avengers movie builds upon its prior successes. The launch of Disney’s new online video streaming platform, Disney+ could not be more fortuitous or well planned. Moviegoers can enjoy watching blockbuster hits from Marvel, along with its other popular franchises such as Star Wars, Pixars and its own range of Disney popular favorites and classics on both the small screen now, as well as large IMAX screens.

“This will extend to the small screen as well with Disney + on the horizon. We will likely see a lot of synergy between the big and small screen.”

— Paul Dergarabedian, senior analyst at Comscore

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Talent Management: 9 Ways To Bring in Top Talent Through Excellent Experiences For Applicants

Having great talent working cohesively and productively at your company, big or small, is essential to growing your business, being profitable and making an impact. The people you hire can have a tremendous impact upon your business right from day one. 

Depending upon your specific industry, top tier talent can be quite competitive to recruit and retain. Today almost every profession requires specific technical expertise. 

An excellent experience during an interview can dramatically affect the decisions any candidate makes about working for your company. When you offer an excellent experience to viable candidates during interviews, you can create a lasting positive effect that compels a top tier candidate to accept your offer.

Here are some steps you can take to ensure this:

1. Provide training for your whole staff

Everyone in your company must be aware of the importance of interviews and creating a positive experience for new candidates. There are many impressions that a candidate will have about your company, from interactions starting with applications or outreach to final offers as well as personal interactions with receptionists, employees and hiring managers. 

You can provide training to your team so that you are united in providing a consistent positive experience for your new candidates. This includes personalizing communications with individual candidates and ensuring that everyone conducting interviews is prepared, arrives on time and conducts interviews professionally and courteously.

Also pay attention to any feedback from candidates. For example, if a candidate has difficulty locating your office, make sure you provide clear directions before the next interview that you conduct. Even if you do not end up hiring your potential candidates, aim to create a positive experience that they would want to work for you if they could.

2. Have an organized process internally

In addition to human resources software you may use (link to BEPMS), you will also want to organize your own process for hiring. This means that you have clear goals for hiring and a team in place to help you with this. Even if you have a small startup with under 10 employees, you will still want to have a process in place so that you know how to respond to applicants.

3. Hold your hiring managers accountable

Hiring is very important for your company but a lot of the hard work in sourcing and hiring as well as real decision-making happens with your hiring managers. When you hold your hiring managers accountable and you place trust in them to help you find the right talent for your company, they are more inclined to do their jobs effectively with consideration. Motivating your hiring managers is also important. You can do this by telling them the positive impact of having a great candidate with real data and give them real-life examples of success.

4. Plan for enough time

Your hiring managers need time to review resumes, take notes and source candidates. The people you have designated to interview your candidates, must also have at least 30 minutes to meet with them individually.

5. Communicate frequently with your candidates

Communicate in a personalized way with your top level candidates. Insufficient communication is one of the primary reasons candidates can withdraw applications or move on to other companies. You can avoid this confusion and frustration by offering a clear process to your candidates and following through on it. Follow up does not have to be tedious - just a phone call or short email can be enough.

It is important that you do this with candidates also that you are not considering and follow up to explain that he or she has not been hired. Communicating in a timely manner is essential to create a good experience.

6. Provide an exceptional closing

When you have decided to hire a candidate, be sure to congratulate the individual, thank him or her for applying and personalize the job offer. Explain why this job and company are a great fit. You can invite the candidate to meet with your team in a relaxed setting (dinner or other) where the candidate can enjoy a social event without pressure.

Follow up with the right talent in a few days if you do not hear back instantly. Your top talent will be enthused to see how eager you are to have them.

7. Learn from your mistakes

Pay attention to any problems during the sourcing, interviewing and hiring process. What feedback did you receive from candidates and employees? How can you improve the hiring process?

8. Provide a positive on-boarding experience

Once you have decided to hire and  your candidate has accepted your offer, be sure to provide a positive on-boarding experience that maintains a high level of enthusiasm and optimism. This will drive participation and motivate your new talent to prove themselves at your company.

9. Have an employee retention plan

When you have hired great talent and you are seeing positive results, you will want to also have a plan in place to retain them. Employee retention is critical. Retaining top talent is also a priority at most companies as turnover rates can be high and finding the right candidates also time-consuming, difficult and expensive. Employees want to stay and work for a company that offers them opportunities to grow, professionally and in their own lives.