Marvel’s superhero blockbuster “The Avengers” is continuing to break records and has reached the billion-dollar mark at the box office.
Blowing Tim Burton’s “Dark Shadows” out of the water, “The Avengers” held a comfortable lead this past weekend, bringing in another $103.2 million, making the domestic total $373.2 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.
After only 19 days its release in some markets, “The Avengers” has hauled in just over $1 billion worldwide, with $95.4 million made overseas.
“The Avengers” beat out former box office heavy weights “Avatar” and “The Dark Knight” after earning $100 million domestically in its second weekend and topping $300 million domestically Saturday after just nine days in theatres.
“You never think that it can happen this quickly,” said Dave Hollis, head of distribution for Disney. “You hope you can get to this day, and the fact that it is happening this early is a testament to a lot of work that went in on the Marvel side over the last six years to get us to a place where people wanted to see the Avengers assemble.”
“The Avengers” is already 2012’s biggest hit worldwide and is close to surpassing “The Hunger Games” at $386.9 million to become this year’s top-grossing film domestically.