After annihilating expectations last weekend and debuting to a whopping $207.4 million, The Avengers fell by only 50 percent and has become the first film to ever score $100 million in its second weekend.
If that number isn’t impressive enough, it made quick work of the existing second-weekend record: the $75.6 million of 2009’s Avatar.
In just 10 days, the superhero ensemble has amassed a nearly-unimaginable $373.2 million (number 18 on the all-time domestic chart) and is the fastest film to ever reach that mark. On Monday it should pass The Hunger Games and become the year’s top grosser.
Smashing the $500-million mark domestically is now a given, and it would be a surprise if it fell short of $600 million. The real question now is if the Joss Whedon-directed flick has enough staying power to beat Avatar’s record of $760.5 million.
Overseas, in a mere 19 days, The Avengers cruised past the $1 billion milestone and still has Japan in which to open. Audiences worldwide are loving what this event film has to offer and it is yet to be seen how high the worldwide number will soar.
In a very distant second, the eight collaboration between Tim Burton and Johnny Depp, Dark Shadows, grossed a decent (but far from mind blowing) $28.8 million and $36.7 million overseas. Warner Bros. could never have fathomed The Avengers would be this massive, and the release window was looking more and more dangerous as it approached.
Turns out a makeup-smeared Johnny Depp was no match for IronMan.