The Avengers Dominates

I think everyone knew that The Avengers was going to be a very big deal. The only real question was how high it would rank on the all-time list of openings.

It turns out: at the top following a $200 Million opening weekend.

Get some!

The number two opening weekend is now owned by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 with a measly $169 million opening weekend.

Of course, the $200 million number is based on estimates, and the actual total can go up or down when all the cash is counted early in the week. Nevertheless, this will still be a record-breaking weekend and near enough to the magic $200 number that nobody will care.

So, yeah. It turns out that when you take a host of well-establish and well-loved characters and put them into a smart, fun, big-time action film where each character is given a chance to shine, then you can make a lot of people happy. Good job Marvel! This has been part of the plan since Iron Man in 2007, and it worked out beautifully for them. A lot of people were entertained, and a lot of people made truckloads of money.

I loved The Avengers (4.5 out of 5 stars), and there is a good chance I'll see it again before it's gone from theaters. Specifically, I want to see it in IMAX where the sound and visuals are certain to kill. I missed the IMAX show on the midnight release (I was in the AMC Theaters Marvel Marathon) but I'll try to catch it this week before it's displaced by Dark Shadows.

The only question now is ho long it will remain on top. Looking at the competition, I'm betting it will be #1 for three weeks, maybe four. I'm hoping that Prometheus in June will be far away enough from The Avengers' shadow to perform well.

Did you see The Avengers this weekend? What did you think of it? Let me know in the comments or on Twitter!