Back in 2008, a film called
Iron Man, starring Robert Downey, Jr. was released by Marvel Studios. It was a film that many thought it wouldn't be a success at the box office. Not to mention it was also a
very risky investment for Marvel Studios. Then the film opened, and guess what? Film took almost $100 million in the first weekend, and went on to become a big success. A character that was known in comics, but never had a film adaptation, Iron Man was still a B-list character. After the release of the film, it all changed. We got
Thor, another
Hulk film, and of course,
Captain America. All those films did good enough at the box office, because next month,
The Avengers is being released. The Joss Whedon-directed superhero team up of a lifetime will feature all those characters that had their own films, and while box office numbers are mostly important for future sequels and not the quality of the film, according to industry analyst of
Exhibitor Relations Jeff Bock (via
E! Online),
The Avengers could set a record for biggest superhero opening in US:
"...it's "entirely possible" that the Robert Downey Jr.-led Avengers could top The Dark Knight for bragging rights as the biggest-opening superhero movie ($158.4 million). Bock foresees a scenario where The Avengers defeats The Dark Knight, and tops Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, which, with a $169.2 million Friday-Sunday debut last year, is Hollywood's all-time opener, but only hangs onto the record until The Dark Knight Rises opens July 20."
In other words, this will be a
big summer for the box office. What's interesting here is that Bock mentions an even bigger debut for
The Dark Knight Rises (which is not surprising in any way), the Christopher Nolan-directed final chapter in his Batman saga. And when I say interesting, this is what he said:
"Is $200 million even possible?"
In the end, it won't matter who tops who, but rather that all these films we are looking forward to, and have been waiting for so long, are great films in general, and if breaking a couple of records in the meantime is possible, I say why not? Also, when it comes to
The Avengers,
Marvel is not the only one paying attention. This is the first time that we are getting a film with (superhero) characters that are already established in their own adaptations, and having them in one film will be quite a spectacle, especially for the fans. And speaking of fans, it's also worth mentioning that AMC's Ultimate Marvel Marathon is sold out a month before the release across US.
Starring Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and Cobie Smulders,
The Avengers is set to hit theatres on
May 4, 2012.