The Dark Knight The Avengers has surpassed The Dark Knight at the domestic box office, to become the no. 3 biggest hit ever in the Us/Canada. Or has it? Joss Whedon’s The Avengers added $5.65m at the North American box office on Friday, June 1, according to studio estimates found at Box Office Mojo. That raised the action flick’s domestic cume to $538.11m. Directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Christian Bale, The Dark Knight cumed at $533.3m in 2008. But which movie has sold more tickets, The Avengers or The Dark Knight? Looking at both films’ totals, the obvious answer is The Dark Knight, which was shown at fewer IMAX houses, was not in 3D, and was released in 2008. In fact, even while ignoring IMAX and 3D surcharges, The Dark Knight‘s adjusted domestic box-office take — to better reflect the actual number of tickets sold — would be $580m. In other words,...
- 6/3/2012
- by Zac Gille
- Alt Film Guide
The Avengers: Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Chris Evans as Captain America With a cume of $463.35m after 18 days, Joss Whedon’s The Avengers has surpassed George Lucas’ Star Wars ($460.99m) at the domestic box office, thus officially becoming the fifth biggest blockbuster in history. By next weekend, The Avengers should surpass Lucas’ Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace ($474.54m) to become the fourth biggest domestic blockbuster in history. Impressive? Of course. Any way you look at it, The Avengers‘ box-office performance, whether in North America or abroad, has been phenomenal. The Disney / Marvel actioner has surpassed the expectations of most — if not all — prognosticators. Now, having said that, The Avengers is not a box-office phenomenon on a par with Star Wars. Not even close. Studio/media spin and p.r. b.s. aside, the true barometer of a movie’s success is how many tickets it has sold,...
- 5/22/2012
- by Zac Gille
- Alt Film Guide
The Avengers: Chris Evans / Captain America, Robert Downey Jr / Tony Stark / Iron Man The Avengers easily topped the North American box office this past weekend, grossing $55.64m according to box-office actuals found at Box Office Mojo. At a distant second place with $25.53m was Battleship, a $209m Universal release that has turned out to be a major bomb domestically. On Sunday, The Avengers passed the $450m mark in North America. It is the fastest movie to reach that milestone: 17 days. At no. 2, Christopher Nolan / Christian Bale’s The Dark Knight reached $450m after 27 days. (Adjusted for inflation, The Dark Knight reached that milestone on Day 21.) The Avengers vs. The Dark Knight: Ticket Sales Now, which movie has sold more tickets, The Avengers or The Dark Knight? On Day 17, The Avengers‘ cume stands at $457.66m; The Dark Knight‘s was $393.75m. Adjusted for inflation, The Dark Knight‘s take goes up to approximately $429m.
- 5/21/2012
- by Zac Gille
- Alt Film Guide
Jennifer Lopez, What to Expect When You’re Expecting Still going strong, The Avengers is on its third weekend out. Yet, the domestic box office is expected to be down 18% compared to last year because of three weak new entries: Peter Berg / Taylor Kitsch’s megabudgeted Battleship barely managed to stay afloat on Friday, while Sacha Baron Cohen‘s The Dictator (which opened on Wed.) and Kirk Jones’ all-star ensemble (Jennifer Lopez, Cameron Diaz, Chace Crawford, etc.) What to Expect When You’re Expecting performed below expectations. [See Box Office: Battleship bombs.] The Dictator grossed an estimated $5.5m at 3,008 theaters on Friday, for an expected weekend total of $16m, as per Deadline.com. Sacha Baron Cohen’s R-rated comedy will thus reach a cume of $23m after five days. For comparison’s sake, Bruno — which was considered a major box-office disappointment following Borat — opened with $30.61m on its first weekend out in July 2009. Supporting Baron...
- 5/19/2012
- by Zac Gille
- Alt Film Guide
The Avengers box office: $1 billion worldwide; Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr) soars The Avengers has indeed broken another box-office record in North America. If that weren’t enough, if studio estimates are accurate Joss Whedon’s superhero movie starring Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Hiddleston, and Jeremy Renner has passed the $1 billion milestone worldwide — after 19 days out. At 4,349 theaters in North America, The Avengers collected an estimated $103.2m, down a mere 50% compared to the previous weekend. That’s the biggest "second weekend" gross ever, far surpassing James Cameron / Sam Worthington’s Avatar and Christopher Nolan / Christian Bale’s The Dark Knight, which brought in, respectively, $75.61m (about the same in 2012 dollars) and $75.16m (approx. $82m today) according to Box Office Mojo. Even taking 3D and IMAX surcharges into account, The Avengers would still remain quite a bit ahead of the (inflation-adjusted) 2D, modestly...
- 5/14/2012
- by Zac Gille
- Alt Film Guide
The Avengers movie: Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Chris Evans (Captain America) The Avengers may be poised to break another box-office record. On its second Friday out, the Joss Whedon-directed superhero movie starring Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth, among others, collected an estimated $29.lm at 4,349 theaters in North America. According to Box Office Mojo, that’s the biggest "second Friday" gross ever, surpassing Christopher Nolan / Christian Bale’s The Dark Knight, which took in $23.2m in summer 2008 (approximately $25.3 in 2012 dollars). Of course, The Avengers has the advantage of 3D surcharges, and it has been showing at many more higher-priced IMAX screens than The Dark Knight ever was. If 3D is factored in (a guesstimate of about 50% of Friday’s tickets sales — as was the case last weekend; 30% average surcharge) then The Avengers‘ box-office take (to reflect actual ticket sales) goes down to approx. $25m — or about the same level as the inflation-adjusted The Dark Knight.
- 5/12/2012
- by Zac Gille
- Alt Film Guide
Johnny Depp vampire: Dark Shadows The Avengers to break another box-office record? As per early, rough box-office estimates, the Joss Whedon-directed superhero movie is expected to gross $28-29m at 4,349 theaters in North America on Friday and a whopping $100m by Sunday evening — up from $80-90m predicted earlier today. Meanwhile, Tim Burton / Johnny Depp’s Dark Shadows opened with a disappointing $10.5m at 3,755 locations. Dark Shadows is expected to finish its first weekend with $28m — the amount The Avengers is expected to earn on its second Friday out. The above figures were found at Deadline.com, which adds that Dark Shadows distributor Warner Bros. was expecting at the very least a $35m opening weekend. Burton and Depp’s previous collaboration, Alice in Wonderland, opened with $116m in March 2010. Making matters worse for Dark Shadows: its budget is pegged at $150-175m, not including marketing / distribution expenses. Unless...
- 5/12/2012
- by Zac Gille
- Alt Film Guide
The Avengers: Chris Evans The Avengers to reach $1 billion this weekend? That’s certainly a possibility, depending on how steep the Marvel superhero movie will drop at the global box office. As of Thursday, May 10, The Avengers‘ worldwide gross stood at $803.31m: $533.3m international and $270.01m domestic. It needs $196.69m to reach $1 billion. This weekend, The Avengers is expected to collect anywhere between $80-98m at the North American box office. If those predictions are correct, the action flick will need to rake in close to $100m at the international box office. That’s not impossible, but it would mean a quite modest 35% drop-off rate: last weekend, The Avengers‘ earned an estimated $157.4m overseas, partly because it opened in two major markets, China ($17.4m) and Russia ($17.9m). Japan is the only major market left; The Avengers will open there in August. The Avengers is currently no. 32 on Box Office...
- 5/12/2012
- by Zac Gille
- Alt Film Guide
Captain America: Chris Evans, The Avengers movie Yesterday I wrote that in terms of opening-weekend ticket sales, it was a likely tossup between Joss Whedon / Chris Evans’ The Avengers, Christopher Nolan / Christian Bale’s The Dark Knight, and, to a slightly lesser extent, Sam Raimi / Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man 3. What a difference 24 hours make. According to weekend box-office actuals, The Avengers earned $207.43m in North America. That’s $7m above Sunday estimates, which had already made it clear that the Marvel / Disney release had smashed David Yates / Daniel Radcliffe’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2‘s previous box-office record: $169.2m earned last summer. The Grand Hotel of superhero movies may also have sold more tickets than any other movie in North American opening-weekend box-office history. Taking inflation into account, The Dark Knight would have earned $172-175m and Spider-Man 3 $171-$174m in 2012 dollars, depending on...
- 5/7/2012
- by Zac Gille
- Alt Film Guide
The Avengers director Joss Whedon, Chris Hemsworth Thor The Avengers has broken all opening-weekend box-office records in history. Well, maybe not all. But hyperbole aside, The Avengers has broken the official opening-weekend box-office record in North America. Apparently, by a wide margin. According to studio estimates, the Marvel superhero special-effects-laden ensemble will have taken in an estimated $200.3m before the day is over. Following John Carter, Mars Needs Moms, Cars 2, The Muppets, Tron: Legacy, Secretariat, and other domestic underperformers in the last couple of years, Disney executives must be, to put it mildly, ecstatic. The previous opening-weekend box-office record holder, David Yates / Daniel Radcliffe’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, earned $169.2m last summer. Both The Avengers and Deathly Hallows 2 have the advantage of box-office-boosting 3D surcharges: 52% of The Avengers‘ gross came from 3D screenings. That surely helped the Joss Whedon-directed actioner to become (as per Box Office Mojo,...
- 5/6/2012
- by Zac Gille
- Alt Film Guide
Cobie Smulders: Maria Hill, The Avengers Early estimates had The Avengers‘ box office grosses pegged at about $70m in North America on Friday, including $18.7m from Thursday midnight screenings. Official studio estimates, however, have the superhero movie earning $80.5m on Friday — the second highest opening-day take ever. It turns out The Avengers has far surpassed the two Kristen Stewart / Robert Pattinson / Taylor Lautner movies on the top-five list, The Twilight Saga: New Moon ($72.7m) and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 ($71.64m). But David Yates / Daniel Radcliffe’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 remains the undisputed opening-day box-office record holder, having grossed $91.07m on its first day out in summer 2011. (Note that unlike Deathly Hallows 2 and The Avengers, the two Twilight movies did not have the advantage of box-office-boosting 3D surcharges.) The Avengers did, however, officially break one box-office record: best single-day not including midnight screenings.
- 5/5/2012
- by Zac Gille
- Alt Film Guide
Chris Evans: Captain America, The Avengers Barring a huge surge on Saturday and Sunday matinees, The Avengers will not be breaking any box-office records in North America. Even if one chooses to ignore inflation, the Joss Whedon-directed Marvel / Walt Disney release is expected to remain behind David Yates / Daniel Radcliffe’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 both on opening day Friday and for the weekend as a whole. The Avengers is expected to collect around $70 million at 4,349 locations on Friday (including $18.7m from Thursday midnight screenings), according to Deadline.com. If that’s correct, The Avengers will land behind not only Deathly Hallows 2 ($91.07m), but also Chris Weitz’s The Twilight Saga: New Moon ($72.7m) and Bill Condon’s The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 ($71.64m), both starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner. Note that unlike Deathly Hallows 2 and The Avengers, the two...
- 5/5/2012
- by Zac Gille
- Alt Film Guide
The Avengers (Scarlett Johansson photo right) earned an estimated $18.7 million from about 2,500 Thursday midnight screenings in North America. Ignoring inflation and the box-office-boosting effect of 3D/IMAX surcharges — $1.3m came from 273 IMAX screens — that places The Avengers at no. 8 on the list of biggest domestic midnight debuts. For comparison’s sake: without the assistance of 3D, Gary Ross / Jennifer Lawrence’s The Hunger Games opened with $19.7m at 2,565 locations (including 270 IMAX) in March, while Christopher Nolan / Christian Bale’s The Dark Knight took in $18.5m at 3,040 screenings (including 94 IMAX) in summer 2008. In fact, in number of midnight ticket sales, The Dark Knight remains ahead of both The Avengers and The Hunger Games – even without taking 3D/IMAX surcharges into account. After all, The Dark Knight’s $18.5m would translate into more than $20m today. The biggest midnight debut by far is that of David Yates / Daniel Radcliffe’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2...
- 5/4/2012
- by Zac Gille
- Alt Film Guide
Samuel L. Jackson, The Avengers The Avengers actor Samuel L. Jackson, whose self-righteous Nick Fury looks like an amateur next to Tom Hiddleston’s brilliantly wicked Loki, has gone the James Cameron way. It’s "either you like my movie, or you have no job writing about movies." In response to an unenthusiastic The Avengers review by the New York Times‘ A.O. Scott, a couple of hours ago Jackson tweeted to his 823,000 followers: "#Avengers fans,NY Times critic Ao Scott needs a new job! Let’s help him find one! One he can Actually do!" In his review, Scott opines that The Avengers‘ "best scenes are not the overblown, skull-assaulting action sequences — which add remarkably little that will be fresh or surprising to devotees of the Transformers franchise — but the moments in between, when the assembled heroes have the opportunity to brag, banter, flirt and bicker." Scott then goes on...
- 5/3/2012
- by Zac Gille
- Alt Film Guide
The Avengers movie: Clark Gregg, Chris Hemsworth The Avengers‘ box-office gross overseas has broken a number of official records. In 39 territories, the Disney / Marvel release earned an estimated $178.4 million, with much more to come once the action flick opens in Russia, Japan, and China. The Avengers‘ budget, by the way, is an estimated $220 million. In other words, without the international market, movies like The Avengers would never get made. According to Disney International, The Avengers had the best opening weekend ever in territories as varied as Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, New Zealand, and The Philippines. The top international market was the United Kingdom ($24.7m), followed by Australia ($19.7m), Mexico ($15.9m), South Korea ($12.9m), France ($12.7m), Brazil ($11.3m), and Italy ($10.4m). Though at the no. 1 spot this weekend, The Avengers performed more modestly in Spain ($7.3m) and Germany ($6.7m). In both markets, by the way, the biggest 2012 hit...
- 4/29/2012
- by Zac Gille
- Alt Film Guide
Tom Hardy, The Dark Knight Rises Warner Bros.’ The Dark Knight Rises got a nice plug when six minutes of footage premiered before IMAX screenings of Paramount’s Tom Cruise blockbuster Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. (One could also say that MI4 got a boost from the Tdkr footage as well.) On May 4, The Dark Knight Rises trailer 3 will premiere before screenings of Joss Whedon’s The Avengers, a Marvel production to be released by Walt Disney Studios. But Batman is a DC comics character, how could that be? Well, good business sense. That’s it. And remember, as MTV.com explains, back in 2008 The Dark Knight trailer was shown before Marvel’s Iron Man. And it gets better for fanboys, fangirls, and fanseniors: the new The Amazing Spider-Man trailer will also be screened before The Avengers. The rebooted Spider-Man has been much less buzzed about than either The Avengers, which...
- 4/25/2012
- by Zac Gille
- Alt Film Guide
Tom Hiddleston as Loki, The Avengers Joss Whedon’s The Avengers, whose trailers make it look like Michael Bay’s Transformers movies — but with even more juvenile humor — has an earth-shattering 96% approval rating among Rotten Tomatoes‘ critics. For comparison’s sake, this year’s Best Picture Oscar winner, Michel Hazanavicius‘ The Artist, has a 98% approval rating. (Well, okay, with many more votes tallied.) So, here’s wondering if Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises will be as well received as The Avengers, despite a lack of Michael Bayish explosions and bad jokes. Heck, if the critical love keeps up, here’s wondering if The Avengers will be shortlisted among the year’s Best Picture Oscar nominees next awards season. Either way, check out a The Avengers clip below featuring Tom Hiddleston’s Loki and Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury debating on the meaning of power and desperation. How...
- 4/23/2012
- by Zac Gille
- Alt Film Guide
Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johansson, The Avengers Scarlett Johansson gets an important call in this latest The Avengers TV spot. No, (unfortunately) it's not Woody Allen at the end of the line. Anyhow, before taking care of her caller, Johansson has more pressing matters at hand. Once she gets done — i.e., lots of men (but no women) lying either dead or comatose on the floor — Johansson blithely sashays away. Shortly thereafter, she'll be joining forces with an elite team of superheroes (all Marvel, of course) to save the planet from a bunch of unruly supervillains. Directed by Joss Whedon (who produced and wrote Drew Goddard's The Cabin in the Woods, which opens on Friday), The Avengers opens May 4. In addition to Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, the action / fantasy / sci-fier features The Iceman / Fantastic Four's Chris Evans as Captain America, Margaret / Thanks for Sharing's Mark Ruffalo as the Incredible Hulk,...
- 4/12/2012
- by Zac Gille
- Alt Film Guide
Scarlett Johansson as the Black Widow, Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, The Avengers A group of "isolated, unbalanced," highly dysfunctional characters — one, for instance, turns green when angry; another is a grown man who walks around in a red-white-and-blue mardi gras costume — must band together to fight a common enemy. Or rather, enemies. And thus save the Earth. But is the Earth worth saving? Who cares? The special effects are cool, and Mark Ruffalo looks good in green while Chris Evans looks good in red, white, etc., as can be attested by this latest The Avengers TV spot, "Isolated." (Please scroll down.) Directed by Joss Whedon (who produced and wrote the upcoming The Cabin in the Woods), The Avengers opens May 4. In addition to War Horse's Hiddleston and Sherlock Holmes' Downey Jr, The Avengers features The Iceman / Fantastic Four's Chris Evans as Captain America, Margaret / Thanks for Sharing's...
- 4/12/2012
- by Zac Gille
- Alt Film Guide
Tom Hiddleston as Loki, The Avengers My two favorite parts in this The Avengers TV spot — "Roll Call" (please scroll down) — are the following: New York City cops firing their guns at alien invaders. That's sort of like a bunch of five-year-olds firing their water pistols at an approaching tank about to turn them into human pulp. Tom Hiddleston's Loki telling Robert Downey Jr's Tony Stark/Iron Man: "We have an army." How can you not root for that guy? It helps that Hiddleston, unlike Downey Jr, is taking his role quite seriously — i.e., he's not begging the audience for a response, he's truly bringing a character to life. Directed by Joss Whedon (who produced and wrote the upcoming The Cabin in the Woods), The Avengers opens May 4. In addition to War Horse's Hiddleston and Sherlock Holmes' Downey Jr, The Avengers features Captain America: The First Avenger...
- 4/10/2012
- by Zac Gille
- Alt Film Guide
Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Chris Evans as Captain America, The Avengers "Every team needs a captain." The Earth is in apocalyptic danger and needs to be saved. From global warming? Nah. Psycho humans with too much power and too little sense of ethics? Nah. The right answer: From Loki and his invading alien army. What to do? Bring back Captain America. Check out the Captain America / The Avengers TV spot below. Chris Evans sure looks the part of a superhandsome, superbuffed-up, superhero. But can he fly? Perhaps he doesn't have to. Anyhow, the Captain America sequel comes out in 2014. Directed by Joss Whedon, The Avengers opens May 4. In addition to Evans — who deserves an Oscar for not cracking up while delivering his lines — The Avengers features Sherlock Holmes / Due Date's Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, The Kids Are All Right / Shutter Island's Mark Ruffalo as the Incredible Hulk,...
- 4/10/2012
- by Zac Gille
- Alt Film Guide
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