The Avengers steamrolled the box office this weekend and absolutely shattered the record for biggest opening weekend ever by pulling in $207.1 million over 3 days.
In addition to the over $440 million the film has already made from an earlier global release, The Avengers has now hauled in a worldwide total of $654.5 million in less than 2 weeks.
Hulk smash indeed.
$200 million in a single weekend. That’s just insane. I remember Sam Raimi’s Spider-man debuting in 2002 with the first ever $100 million plus opening and thinking what a mind-blowing game changer that was.
Also mind-blowing? This goofy knob anchoring a lucrative franchise.
And while over the next decade movies like Iron Man 2, The Dark Knight and the most recent Harry Potter film would go on to accomplish the same feat and slowly creep the box office opening weekend record up past the $150 million mark, the thought of a $200 million opening still seemed out of the realm of possibility and, quite frankly, ludicrous.
But still not as ludicrous as a sex tape of a talentless whore leading to a multi-million dollar empire.
The Avengers box office accomplishment is so staggering it will undoubtedly lead to a seismic shift in Hollywood that will permanently cement comic books as the single most important source material in the history of the entertainment industry.
Having seen the success of Marvel’s model of creating their own cinematic universe and using films like Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor and Captain America as precursors to a single superhero team-up film, one has to think it’s only a matter of time until DC Comics gets their shit together and starts building towards making a Justice League movie a reality.
Unfortunately there’s no way around the fact Aquaman is still a lame douche in orange whose superpower is talking to fish.
One of the coolest things about the success of The Avengers movie is that it is the ultimate validation for passionate comic book fans who have loved these characters long before they became bankable superstars of the silver screen.
Once considered nerdy and juvenile, comic books have finally gained respect as a valid and mature medium that has a wealth of artistic merit. Superhero stories really are the mythology for today’s generation, and their cinematic success proves such characters resonate with the world and that comic books deserve to be considered mainstream entertainment.
Best of all, it also allows comic book enthusiasts like myself to feel less self-conscious about their superhero merchandise:
Like when I cook with my Incredible Hulk spatula.
Wear my Iron Man underwear.
Walk around town in my Thor helmet.
Insert my Captain America tongue stud.
Smell fantastic with my Avengers cologne.
Or let my junk get its geek on.