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The Avengers Smashes The Previous U.S. Opening Weekend Revenue Record
Right now, three days and three days only in the United States, Joss Whedon’s feature film directorial debut, “The Avengers”, has already made $641.8 million across the world.
Can anybody comprehend that number?
What would you do with that money?
A whopping $200.3 million of it came from the past three days in this country alone domestically, where theater guests were frequently turned down because the screenings were sold out. Clearly, they still hung around and made it to later screenings, and I’m sure more than just a couple people saw it more than once. Here’s a list of the ten biggest revenue-producing opening weekends for films released in the United States.
1. Joss Whedon’s “The Avengers” (2012) $200,300,000* (approximation as of May 6th)
2. David Yates’ “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows: Part 2” (2011) $169,189,427
3. Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” (2008) $158,411,483
4. Gary Ross’ “The Hunger Games” (2012) $152,535,747
5. Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man 3” (2007) $151,116,516
6. Chris Weitz’s “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” (2009) $142,839,137
7. Bill Condon’s “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1” (2011) $138,122,261
8. Gore Verbinski’s “Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” (2006) $135,634,554
9. Jon Favreau’s “Iron Man 2” (2010) $128,122,480
10. David Yates’ “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows: Part 1” (2010) $125,017,372
So… What’s the one single thing that y’all can take away from this here list? Or, here’s a more specific question: What one aspect does every one of these films on this list share with each other?
They’re all, FRANCHISE MOVIES! Every single one of them! Every single one! They are all sequels EXCEPT FOR (wait for it…) “The Hunger Games,” which just so happens to be an adaptation of one of the best-selling books of the last ten years. And guess what… There’s a sequel to the movie coming out next year.
Come on, America. Does anyone have any appreciation for auteurs anymore? Must you make your judgment on what you’re going to see at the theater based on the meaningless spending of your co-dependents? We need somebody like Captain America to restore value within this country, and to make sure that we all have more insight than to see a movie based on how its prequel did fiscally.
I’m not in any way, shape or form trying to shit on “The Avengers.” It was a lot of fun for me (read my review here), but I just can’t see – regardless of how many comic book fans, Robert Downey Jr. lovers and Scarlett Johansson-nude-picture-downloading-pervs are out there in the world – how a movie can make this much money over one single weekend.
Were we conned by the marketing for it, manipulated by the media, consumed by the star power? No. We’re just simplistic American fucks who would rather spend our money on going to see a movie when we actually KNOW what it’s going to be, from beginning to end, thoroughly through each act.
I don’t know… Me, when I go to the movies, I go to see something that I’ve never seen before, something that might surprise me, scare me, make me happier than I’ve been in the past few days, maybe even make me shit my pants (although I’ve never shit my pants at all, never mind in a movie theater!). Maybe I’m just weird, and I am still one of the hundreds of thousands of people who paid to see “The Avengers” this weekend, but I’m also one of the few that’s saying it’s not the best thing since sliced bread.
Let's consider this, though. Chris Nolan's got a "Dark Knight" sequel coming out in less than two months, and there is a new "Spider-Man" series starting up this summer, but Sam Raimi's no longer at the directing job and Tobey McGuire is no longer Spidey. Both of those could potentially threaten this current opening weekend record that "The Avengers" now holds, and any other records that it's going to set over the next two months.
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COMMENTS (22)
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Art is a Grecian-American male who has no control when or where he falls asleep. If you are Art minded you either a. Think niggas are getting too fucked, b. think niggas are getting it in, c. Are afraid of DA CREAM. You also may require sleeping with a mask, and odds are you'll use someone named Jimmy's car.
P.S. Anders knows more about movies than just about anyone. Deal with it.
Whatever, troll's a fool.
he definitely succeeded in getting a rise out of me, Caroline...
Ethan is always trying to get a rise out of people with his comments....
the fact that you succumb to vulgarity upon losing a simple argument is fucking funny, btw. AND - my e-mail, mnanders@suffolk.edu ...Get@Me
it was a respectful argument until you entered, Ethan. if you would like to call me a scumbag, please send me an e-mail at and disclose your location, basic identity, and gender and we can arrange for you to do it to my face. you can test your freedom of speech there :)
Scumbag Anders
http://qkme.me/3p6ueg
i could write an essay? or we could play a movie-knowledge-related game? artsy or not artsy... your choice Eth
Oh you watch "artsy" movies? Please, tell me how much more you know about movies than the rest of us
don't click that link, Jeff, someone might see it in your "History"
Zing!
or.... http://thatniggaartsleeping.tumblr.com/
Art is a term that describes a diverse range of human activities and the products of those activities, but is most often understood to refer to painting, film, photography, sculpture, and other visual media. Music, theatre, dance, literature, and interactive media are included in a broader definition of art or the arts. Until the 17th century, art referred to any skill or mastery and was not differentiated from crafts or sciences, but in modern usage the fine arts are distinguished from acquired skills in general.
Define "Art"
Whedon's a comic book nerd and has done really well with TV shows, FYi
well, then is there any point at all to call American film a form of art anymore, if it's simply there to "make money?" surely, not one pure form of art exists solely for how lucrative it is. art started as a way to entertain, yes, but also to engage the mind and enhance your thoughts.... THE AVENGERS does no such thing. may i say, though, that my boy WHEDON surely isn't in the game for the loot alone - he's a genre filmmaker and he agreed to make this movie because he likes the superhero genre. there's nobody that deserved to really make this movie more than him, except maybe EDGAR WRIGHT, who would have never gotten the job because his last movie, the EXTREMELY original and undoubtedly fresh SCOTT PILGRIM VS THE WORLD, didn't have a prequel in front of it and therefore didn't perform well financially even though every single person I know that saw it loved it.
I agree Jeff, the big shock of Avengers is that although it was a vehicle similar to Transformers or Avatar, it was actually a GREAT movie... i walked out and immediately wanted to go back in for another showing
I thought "Avengers" was pret-ty fuckin' awesome. Movies aren't what they used to be; we go simply to be extremely entertained now a days, and in this country, it doesn't take much. The Avengers was filmed to MAKE MONEY, not impress a bunch of film critics (which it did anyway).
liam - if there's one thing that REALLY surprised me about the movie, it was the acting... somehow, some way, everyone worked pretty well together, and i even thought Loki was a slithery, slimy fuck himself and did pretty well... as for his army, well, it's a bunch of CGI guys, what can you do? basically, all this list is saying is a movie CANNOT compete fiscally with other major releases that weekend unless it has a prequel. it's very sad, to me, that our country makes our judgements based on how much money a movie's prequel made previously - not by the previous quality of the director, the crew, the engagement of the actors/actresses, etc.
thank you, Ethan, for your bland, shallow statement. i don't feel bad! do you? how could you feel bad? 200.3 million? money 4 everybody!
i mean yea it's a franchise movie, but i was very surprised at the overall great quality of Avengers...acting, effects; only weak part was Loki's insignificant army
your opinion is bad, and you should feel bad