Walt Disney Pictures reports that Marvel's The Avengers is expected to cross the $1 billion global box office mark today on its 19th day of release! It will be the first Marvel film and fifth Disney release to reach $1 billion.
Domestically, the Joss Whedon action adventure added $103.2 million, which is the first time in history a film has crossed the $100 million mark its second weekend. Last weekend, the film set the opening weekend record with $207.4 million. Internationally, "The Avengers" earned $95.4 million this weekend. The film has earned an estimated $373.2 million now in North America and $628.9 million overseas for a worldwide total of $1,002.1 million.
That means in just 19 days, the $220 million-budgeted film has surpassed The Dark Knight's $1,001.9 million and has climbed to the 11th spot on the all-time worldwide list. It's also the fastest film to reach the $200 million mark domestically in three days, the fastest to reach $300 million in nine days, it has the highest Saturday ($69.5 million) and Sunday ($57 million) totals of all time, and the second-biggest single-day gross of all time ($80.8 million).
Internationally, "The Avengers" began opening April 25 and is the biggest opening weekend of all time in Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, Central America, Peru, Bolivia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, and United Arab Emirates. "The Avengers" has now opened in all major markets except Japan (August 17).
"We're obviously thrilled with the global success of 'The Avengers,'" said Robert A. Iger, Disney’s Chairman and CEO. "It's a fantastic movie and an extraordinary franchise that will continue with more great stories and compelling characters for years to come."
On May 8, Disney announced that a sequel to Marvel's The Avengers was in development, following last month's announcement that a follow-up to 2011's Captain America: The First Avenger will be released April 4, 2014. A sequel to last summer's Thor is scheduled for release November 15, 2013, and the third installment of the hit "Iron Man" series, which has earned over $1.2 billion worldwide, will arrive in theaters May 3, 2013.
Don't get me wrong, it's still an amazing movie and I was grinning like an idiot most of the time. Just not as much, as I knew when things were going to happen or be said, and I had already caught a bunch of the little things that I had missed from my first viewing during the second one.
I am not sure I would call it the Golden Age....the Golden Age of comics was pretty lame. This is our Modern Age....right after Miller gave Bats his balls back and Moore showed us blue balls. Soon it will transcend into a Dark Age where all the CBM's get dark and gothic, and then they will level out into fantastic storytelling for the foreseeable future!
