LOS ANGELES: Marvel’s “The Avengers” crushed US box-office records with $200.3 million in ticket sales, opening the summer movie season with a huge win for Walt Disney Co. following the mega-flop “John Carter.”
“The Avengers” surpassed the previous-best opening weekend of $169.2 million in the U.S. and Canada, set last year by “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2,” researcher Hollywood.com Box-Office said yesterday in a statement. Forecasts had ranged from $150 million to $170 million.
“Two hundred million is a staggering number,” said Jeff Bock, box-office analyst at researcher Exhibitor Relations Co. “This is definitely the kind of momentum that’s going to carry over and ride the wave through summer.”
The movie’s performance validates Chief Executive Officer Robert Iger’s strategy of focusing on fewer, more-expensive films with characters that can be marketed by Disney’s merchandise, cable-television and theme-park arms. Iger paid $4.2 billion for Marvel Entertainment in 2009, gaining comic-book characters such as Thor, the Hulk and Captain America, and $7.01 billion for Pixar Animation Studio in 2006.
“The Avengers” is the first Marvel film Disney has distributed since buying the comic-book company. The numbers underscore Marvel’s staying power and Disney’s ability to capitalize on the brand, said Dave Hollis, executive vice president for distribution at Walt Disney Studios.
Beyond the box office, there is a “ton of enterprise-wide value for ancillary business, whether it be consumer products or the networks,” Hollis said in an interview. (Bloomberg/T07)
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