LOS ANGELES - “The Avengers,” the smash hit movie about Marvel superheroes who team up to save the Earth, crushed competitors for a second weekend with a record $103.2 million in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales and was poised to top $1 billion worldwide, studio estimates showed on Sunday.
After posting the highest domestic box office debut in history last weekend, “Avengers” set another record by easily topping the $75.6 million “Avatar” pulled in during its second weekend in 2009, making “Avengers” the first movie to exceed $100 million in its second weekend.
“Avengers” has now racked up a staggering $628.9 million internationally since opening overseas on April 25, distributor Walt Disney Co said, positioning it to break the $1 billion threshold after just 19 days.
The big-budget 3D flick - the first of Hollywood’s lucrative summer season - unites Iron Man, Black Widow, Captain America and other Marvel comic book heroes in a fight against a villain determined to destroy the planet. Disney announced this week it is planning an “Avengers” sequel.
The movie racked up $207.4 million at North American (U.S. and Canadian) theaters over its opening weekend, helping improve the performance of the studio, which earlier stumbled at box offices with its big-budget release “John Carter.”
“Avengers” mania overwhelmed new horror comedy “Dark Shadows,” according to studio estimates compiled by Reuters. “Dark Shadows” pulled in an estimated $28.8 million from Friday through Sunday at domestic theaters.
The latest collaboration between actor Johnny Depp and director Tim Burton, “Dark Shadows” is based on a TV soap opera that ran from 1966 to 1971 about vampires, werewolves and witches who live in a ghostly manor house in the countryside.
In the film, Depp plays a vampire who returns to his ancestral home to help protect his dysfunctional descendants. Michelle Pfeiffer and Helena Bonham Carter also star.
In third place, romantic comedy “Think Like a Man” grossed $6.3 million during its fourth weekend in theaters.
Teen survival drama “The Hunger Games,” the year’s biggest movie before “Avengers” came on the scene, finished the weekend in fourth place with $4.4 million.
Fifth place belonged to love story “The Lucky One,” which took in $4 million, with animated family film “The Pirates! Band of Misfits” coming in sixth at $3.2 million.
Warner Bros., a unit of Time Warner Inc, released “Dark Shadows” and “The Lucky One.” “Think Like a Man” and “Pirates” were distributed by Sony Corp’s Sony Pictures studio. Lions Gate Entertainment Corp released “Hunger Games.”
1 (1) The Avengers .........................$ 103.2 million
2 (*) Dark Shadows .........................$ 28.8 million
3 (2) Think Like a Man......................$ 6.3 million
4 (3) Hunger Games .........................$ 4.4 million
5 (4) The Lucky One ........................$ 4.1 million
6 (5) The Pirates! Band of Misfits..........$ 3.2 million
7 (6) The Five-Year Engagement..............$ 3.1 million
8 (16) The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel........$ 2.7 million
9 (9) Chimpanzee............................$ 1.6 million
10 (*) Girl in Progress......................$ 1.4 million
NOTE: Last weekend’s rankings in parenthesis.
(*) new release
CUMULATIVE TOTALS:
The Hunger Games ..........................$386.9 million
The Avengers ..............................$373.2 million
Think Like a Man ..........................$ 81.9 million
The Lucky One..............................$ 53.7 million
Dark Shadows...............................$ 28.8 million
Chimpanzee.................................$ 25.6 million
The Five Year Engagement...................$ 24.4 million
The Pirates! Band of Misfits...............$ 23.1 million
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.............$ 3.7 million
Girl in Progress...........................$ 1.4 million
Walt Disney Co released “Avengers” and “Chimpanzee.”
Sony Corp’s film division released “Think Like a Man,” and “The Pirates! Band of Misfits.”
Lions Gate Entertainment Corp released “The Hunger Games.”
Time Warner Inc unit Warner Bros. distributed “Dark Shadows” and “The Lucky One.”
“The Five Year Engagement” was released by Universal, a unit of Comcast.
