It’s no secret that The Avengers has been having an incredibly impressive run at the box office. The film smashed the record for the biggest US opening weekend ever by taking 7.4m. in just three days last month, and soared past the billion-dollar mark in just nineteen.
As we predicted when it hit $1bn., Marvel’s superhero blockbuster has now reached even greater heights to become the third highest-grossing film in history, behind James Cameron’s Avatar and Titanic.
With a tour de force feat from writer-director Joss Whedon, the film sees Robert Downey, Jr. return as the ever-brilliant Iron Man, with Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, and Mark Ruffalo joining him to team up to become The Avengers, opposite the main antagonist in Tom Hiddleston’s Loki.
In just over a month, the film has taken more than $1.36bn. at the international box office, which places it firmly ahead of the final instalment of Harry Potter, which is next in line at $1.32bn. With one more big territory still left for The Avengers to dominate with its Japanese release this August, we can expect that figure to rise even further.
The question of course remains whether The Dark Knight Rises will overtake it for the third position on the podium – though I think the notion of competition that will inevitably arise amongst people discussing their comparative performances is a little unfair, given how different they’re expected to be, and the fact that The Dark Knight Rises is the conclusion to the trilogy.
Regardless, Joss Whedon made an utterly incredible film in The Avengers, and if you haven’t seen it yet, I urge you to see if it’s still playing in your local cinema, because it’s certainly worth seeing on the big screen – often, the box office doesn’t necessarily reflect quality, but here it definitely does, and we wait with bated breath to see if Whedon will return for the sequel.
Meanwhile, Marvel have released this week the first official still of Downey, Jr. returning in Iron Man 3 – due out on 3rd May, 2013 – and so the campaign and anticipation begins for the return of Tony Stark for his third time around going solo. I can’t wait.
Source: Box Office Mojo.
