Marvel’s The Avengers is a movie that feels like we’ve been waiting for for 50 years. When Marvel Comics first published the Stan Lee/Jack Kirby comic back in Sept. 1963, I’m sure neither the publisher nor its creators could have ever envisioned a day where an Avengers movie would see a theatrical release and be critically successful at the same time.
But great acclaim doesn’t pay the bills.
Thankfully, The Avengers has gotten off to a fast start, opening up in several foreign territories last week. Even before the midnight screenings in the U.S. the film had amassed more than $250 million internationally. So even if it missed topping Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2‘s record-setting $43.5 million midnight opening by a wide margin (The Avengers made approximately $18.75 million), it is on pace to have an opening day that rivals the likes of this year’s The Hunger Games and The Dark Knight, both of which made a little more than $67 million.
For the record, the last installment of the Harry Potter franchise finished its opening day with $91 million, again having the last laugh.
