Joss Whedon's The Avengers
has set a new bar in opening to a walloping $200.3 million at the
domestic box office, the largest debut ever and kicking of summer 2012
in high style.
The Avengers -- marking a major victory for Disney and Marvel Studios -- easily dethroned Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, which opened to $169.2 million last summer, then the largest number in history.
Overseas, where Avengers
opened a week ago, the tentpole has earned $441.5 million for a
stunning worldwide total of $641.8 million -- already surpassing the
lifetime totals of Captain America: The First Avenger ($364 million), Thor ($449 million), Iron Man ($585 million) and Iron Man 2 ($624 million).
The 3D tentpole is now positioned to reach $1 billion in global grosses.
Among other records, Avengers
is the first film in history to cross $200 million in only three days
of play at the domestic box office. It also scored the biggest Saturday
gross of all time in earning $69.7 million.
"It's been a fantastic weekend on every single front," Disney executive vice president of distribution Dave Hollis said.
Hollis
said the slim 13 percent drop from Friday to Saturday reflects great
word of mouth, as well as the fact that all segments of the audience are
turning out, including families. Roughly 52 percent saw it in 3D.
The
tentpole played evenly in terms of age, with 50 percent of the audience
under the the age of 25 and 50 percent over. Couples made up 55
percent, families 24 percent and teens 21 percent. Males represented 60
percent of the audience.
Avengers -- which assembles marquee Marvel superhero characters Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) -- earned an A+ CinemaScore.
IMAX theaters reported record business, generating north of $15 million in ticket sales domestically to tie with Deathly Hallows Part 2
for the biggest opening weekend in the circuit's history. IMAX expects
to finish the weekend with a worldwideume of $31.2 million.
Avengers
is the first Marvel title marketed and distributed by Disney since
buying Marvel. Paramount distributed Marvel's previous films and, in
exchange for ending its output deal early with Marvel, will received as
much as $115 million in distribution fees for Avengers and next summer's Iron Man 3.
Avengers was the only wide release of the weekend. At the specialty box office, Fox Searchlight looked to counterprogram with The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, which opened in 27 theaters in 12 markets. Marigold grossed $750,301 for a pleasing per location average of $27,789.
Fox Searchlight's Sheila DeLoach
said the film -- which has already a stellar $72 million overseas --
succeeded in luring baby boomers, evidenced by sold out matinee and
early evening shows. Marigold stars Judi Dench, Bill Nighy and Tom Wilkinson.
For full box office results, see below.
Domestic box office, April May 4-6
Title/Weeks in release/Theater count, Studio/Three-day weekend total/Cume
1. The Avengers, 1/4,349, Disney/Marvel Studios, $200.3 million.
2. Think Like a Man, 3/2,011, Sony, $8 million, $73 million.
3. The Hunger Games, 7/2,794, Lionsgate, $5.7 million, $47.9 million.
4. The Lucky One, 3/3,005, Warner Bros., $5.5 million, $40 million.
5. The Pirates! Band of Misfits, 2/3,358, Sony/Aardman, $5.4 million, $18.6 million.
6. The Five-Year Engagement, Universal, 2/2,941, $5.1 million, $19.3 million.
7. The Raven, 2/2,209, Relativity/Intrepid, $2.5 million, $12 million.
8. Safe, 2/2,271, Lionsgate/IM Global, $2.5 million, $12.9 million
9. Chimpanzee, 3/1,531, Disney, $2.4 million, $23 million.
10. The Three Stooges, 4/2,174, $1.8 million, $39.6 million.
