For the first time ever, a movie earned over $200 million on its' debut weekend. And the rabid fan frenzy caused The Avengers to be that movie. The latest blockbuster's official numbers for the weekend was an unprecedented $207.4 MILLION (!!!!), breaking the record for the highest-grossing opening weekend ever. Playing in nearly 12,000 screens at 4,349 theaters, the film averaged a record-breaking $47,698 (breaking numbers down further, each showtime averaged an impressive $1,543 and 3D accounted for 52% or $104 million) of business). The film blew Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows - Part II's record out of the water, and beat The Dark Knight's $158.4 million opening to claim the biggest-opening for a superhero film. But that's only the beginning of the films' achievements. In the process, it had the second-largest opening day of all-time including midnight grosses ($80.8 million), the largest opening-day of all-time excluding midnight grosses ($62.1 million), the biggest Saturday ($69.8 million) and Sunday ($57.1 million) grosses of all-time, and was the fastest film to reach $100 million (less than 2 days), $150 million (2 days), and $200 million (3 days).
The main question is, how long can The Avengers hold onto this record? It certainly isn't safe yet, it has juggernauts like The Dark Knight Rises, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part II and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey to fight off. But whether it holds onto the record for the rest of the year or not, it is very much clear that this particular juggernaut has made history! This truly smashing start kicks off what could be a red-hot summer movie season (with other highly-anticipated titles such as Dark Knight Rises, The Amazing Spider-Man, The Bourne Legacy, Ice Age 4 and Brave).
Another question is, how will it sustain in the weeks ahead? One disadvantage is that there is a lot of competition coming, while next weekend isn't as threatening (Dark Shadows currently is expected to open in the $30 million range), Battleship, Men in Black III, and even Snow White and the Huntsman and Promethus further down the road will all try to yank this movie's audience in different directions. But a couple of really big advantages are that the film held better over the weekend compared to other superhero films (it slid just 13% from Friday-to-Saturday where similar films would drop 40-50%), and it recieved a rare "A+" CinemaScore from audiences (as well as critical acclaim with 93% of reviews positive on Rotten Tomatoes). One thing's for sure, the film is guaranteed to close at least with close to $500 million, perhaps higher if it can defy expectations moving forward. The film was produced for $220 million by distributor Walt Disney Pictures/Marvel Studios/Paramount Pictures.
Overseas, The Avengers has already earned nearly $450 million in just two weeks of play (it has opened in every international territory except Japan). With $654 million already in the bank worldwide, the tentpole flick already has claimed first place for the year, and is well on its' way to the $1 billion mark. Some people may be surprised to have seen Paramount's logo on the film instead of Disney's, but the deal made between Marvel, Paramount, and Disney included the earlier studio's logo to remain in Avengers. The Marvel heroes will continue to make big-screen appearances within the next two years, with Iron Man 3 set for this same weekend next year, Thor 2 for November 2013, and Captain America 2 for April 2014.
There was practically no attention for the holdovers, as they all were shoved pretty hard by the superhero team. Think Like A Man slid to second place after two weekends on top, and dropped 54% to $8.1 million, for a solid $73.1 million in 17 days. The $100 million mark now looks unreachable for the book adaptation, but its' still become a big surprise, grossing six times its' $72 million budget.
One possible side-note to The Avengers monster opening is that The Hunger Games, in its' seventh weekend of release, stayed in third place for a third-straight weekend and held the best out of the entire Top 10. While tripping 48% to $5.6 million, the book adaptation has earned an exceptional $380.6 million in 49 days. While it will surrender first place for the year domestically to The Avengers within the next week or so, Hunger Games still has defied expectations for a blockbuster, holding better down the road than what most were expecting.
The Pirates! Band of Misfits retreated to fourth place and dropped 51% to $5.5 million, for a dismal $18.7 million gross in 10 days. The latest production from Aardman will likely not go much higher than a disappointing $25 million stateside. In its' third weekend, The Lucky One slid one spot to fourth and dropped 50% to $5.4 million, for a fine $47.8 million gross in 17 days, on its' way to a finish in the $55-$60 million range. The Five-Year Engagement slid 53% to $5 million, slotting in sixth and has picked up a slightly better $19.1 million in the same amount of time (due to stronger weekday business). Still though, the Judd Apatow comedy won't get much further than $25 million.
Safe crashed 66% due to competition from The Avengers to $2.7 million, for a 10-day total of an anemic $13.1 million and slotting in seventh place. The Raven didn't fare well either, plunging 64% to $2.6 million, for a forgettable $12.2 million in 10 days. Both titles will be lucky to get higher than $15 million by the time they leave theaters (which won't be long from now at this pace).
Disneynature's latest documentary Chimpanzee was down 53% in its' third weekend to ninth place and an $2.5 million, for a $23.1 million gross in 17 days. The Three Stooges rounded out the Top 10 in its' fourth weekend, and crashed 65% to $1.8 million, for a $39.7 million 24-day tally.
Overall box office came in at an estimated $258.1 million, up 55% from last year and was the 5th-biggest box office weekend on record. Last year, one of the Avengers, Thor, debuted with $65.7 million, on its' way to $180 million stateside and over $400 million worldwide. Fast Five fell 62% from its' opening weekend to $32.4 million, while romantic comedies Jumping the Broom and Something Borrowed debuted in third and fourth place with $15.2 million and $13.9 million, on their way to finishes near $40 million domestically. Rio rounded out the Top 5 in its' fourth weekend with a 43% ease to $8.5 million.
Here is the final Top 10:
# Movie Final Numbers Projected Estimates My Predictions
1 The Avengers $207,438,708 $200,300,000 $162,000,000
2 Think Like A Man $8,106,166 $8,100,000 $9,000,000
3 The Hunger Games $5,587,661 $5,700,000 $6,000,000
4 The Pirates! Band of Misfits $5,502,482 $5,400,000 $7,000,000
5 The Lucky One $5,368,115 $5,510,000 $5,500,000
6 The Five-Year Engagement $5,029,110 $5,100,000 $5,700,000
7 Safe $2,677,125 $2,470,000 $4,000,000
8 The Raven $2,636,780 $2,508,000 $3,000,000
9 Chimpanzee $2,484,456 $2,395,000 $2,800,000
10 The Three Stooges $1,832,333 $1,800,000 $2,700,000
Here is the final Top 10:
# Movie Final Numbers Projected Estimates My Predictions
1 The Avengers $207,438,708 $200,300,000 $162,000,000
2 Think Like A Man $8,106,166 $8,100,000 $9,000,000
3 The Hunger Games $5,587,661 $5,700,000 $6,000,000
4 The Pirates! Band of Misfits $5,502,482 $5,400,000 $7,000,000
5 The Lucky One $5,368,115 $5,510,000 $5,500,000
6 The Five-Year Engagement $5,029,110 $5,100,000 $5,700,000
7 Safe $2,677,125 $2,470,000 $4,000,000
8 The Raven $2,636,780 $2,508,000 $3,000,000
9 Chimpanzee $2,484,456 $2,395,000 $2,800,000
10 The Three Stooges $1,832,333 $1,800,000 $2,700,000
