As another week goes by, ‘The Avengers’ continues to break box office records both domestically and worldwide. Yesterday, Disney announced that the film has now become the third highest grossing film both domestically and internationally.
The domestic third place record position was previously held by ‘The Dark Knight’ which has earned $533 million. Currently, the estimated cumulative gross for ‘The Avengers’ is $538.1 million and will undoubtedly be even higher before its theater run is over. The movie also set a new speed record of earning $500 million in only 23 days whereas it took ‘Avatar’ (the former record holder) 32 days. It may be a while (if ever) for ‘The Avengers’ to rise higher on the list as it trails behind two of James Cameron’s hottest films: ‘Titanic’ (with $658.5 million domestically) and ‘Avatar’ at the number one spot with $760.5 million.
Globally, ‘The Avengers passed ‘Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2‘ earning $1,331.3 million to ‘Potter’s’ $1,328 million. It also the trails behind ‘Titanic’ ($2.185 billion) and ‘Avatar’ ($2.782 billions) internationally.
Of course detractors contend that these numbers are not adjusted for higher ticket prices, the cost to see the film in 3D or IMAX or inflation. If you do adjust, then ‘The Avengers’ would only be at #37 domestically with ‘The Dark Knight’ ranking at #28. (And for you trivia buffs, ‘Gone With the Wind’ would take the number 1 spot).
Overall, ‘The Avengers’ has managed to break 28 box office records in all and is seen as the shot in the arm the movie industry has been needing. With big disappointments in this year’s summer releases so far (‘Battleship’ and ‘Dark Shadows’ specifically), it’s good to see ‘The Avengers’ rise to the top.
