UPDATE 05/07/12 2:35pm MT: The official numbers are in, and The Avengers actually pulled in a bit more than estimated! $207.4 million is the official domestic take for May 4-6!
Joss Whedon, Disney, and Marvel officially have a mega-hit on their hands with Marvel’s The Avengers!
Leading up to the US opening of the film last week, it was reported that pre-sale ticket sales were already huge, and that momentum carried on through the weekend. Starting with midnight screenings The Avengers brought in an impressive $18.7 million, totalling to $80.5 million for all day Friday, $69.7 million on Saturday, and a projected $50.1 million on Sunday – bringing the total to $200.3 million, handily breaking the opening-weekend record previously held by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 with $169.1 million. Adding this domestic figure to the amount The Avengers has made internationally after 12 days of release brings the global total to $641.8 million (the film cost around $220 million to make)!
Both critics and audiences have been heaping praise on this movie, and I think these numbers just add to the hype fact that this is just a tremendous film. Of course, these figures bode well for the Marvel movie franchise as they move into what they are calling “Phase 2”, with sequels planned for Iron Man (which actually begins shooting next month), Captain America, Thor, and of course, a second Avengers film.
I, like so many of you, caught a midnight showing and plan to see it at least two more times. Seeing a film of this magnitude, bringing all of those other films together, and so well executed almost almost brought tears of joy to my eyes. I grew up reading the comics, playing with the action figures, watching the cartoons – and to see all of these elements brought together larger than life on the big screen it such a way was damn-near overwhelming. I believe a film such as this doesn’t set these types of records unless it is deserving of it, and I assure you, what Joss Whedon and company have done here is very deserving of the audience they brought in in one weekend.
I don’t believe it’s an exaggeration when I say a new bar has been set for superhero films, including The Dark Knight Rises and The Amazing Spider-Man due for release later this year. While I have very high hopes for Nolan’s conclusion to his Batman trilogy (The Dark Knight Rises brought in a whopping $158.4 million on its opening weekend), I don’t know if it will be able to beat this new record set by The Avengers – but then again, no one predicted a $200 million plus weekend for this film, so anything is possible!
Welcome to the Summer movie season folks, it’s off to an amazing start!
Be sure to check out our reviews of Marvel’s The Avengers by CitizenBot and Swank-mo-tron, and come discuss the film in our Open Thread!