Marvel’s The Avengers is on track to making history by becoming the highest weekend grossing film ever. The film opened up on Friday to $85.5 million, second to only Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows-Part 2, which made $91 million.
After the midnight showing, the film didn’t seem like it was going to be breaking any records here in North America. It didn’t even perform better than The Hunger Games that came out last month. However, after a tally at day’s end the film’s numbers have indicated that it’s on track to demolish the current record holder. The Avengers is projected to make between $170 and $180 million which would beat Harry Potter’s $169 million.
The comic movie scored a rare A+ CinemaScore, reaping the benefits of the most successful form of marketing there is: word of mouth. If the movie actually lives up to the hype, this will be the biggest movie for both Marvel Studios and Disney Pictures.
The film has reported huge profits already – at this point grossing $415 million in international markets, well above the $220 million production budget.
Hitting these numbers might prove to be quite a challenge for this film, however, as it is up against this weekend’s highly anticipated Mayweather and Cotto fight, which is guaranteed to pull some potential audience members away from the theatres. The weigh-in and pre-fight programming that aired on HBO was the most attended in boxing history. Not to mention it’s Cinco de Mayo, an annually celebrated day full of nonstop drinking and partying, which will easily detract some moviegoers away from purchasing movie tickets today.
It will surely be interesting to see how the final numbers play out for this one.
