"Avengers" smashes record with $200.3M box office

[Movie Fan]

"Avengers" smashes record with $200.3M box office

http://is.gd/3fVpgX

(AP) LOS ANGELES - Hulk, smash.

That's what Captain America tells the Incredible Hulk to do in "The
Avengers," and that's what the Marvel Comics superhero mash-up did at
the box office, smashing the domestic revenue record with a $200.3
million debut.

It's by far the biggest opening ever, shooting past the previous
record of $169.2 million for the debut of last year's "Harry Potter"
finale.

"The Avengers" added $151.5 million overseas over the weekend to bring
its total to $441.5 million since it began opening internationally a
week earlier.

That raised the film's worldwide haul to $641.8 million in barely a
week and a half, more than its Marvel superhero forerunners "Iron
Man," ''Iron Man 2," ''Thor" and "Captain America" took in during
their entire runs.

If distributor Disney's domestic estimate Sunday holds when the final
weekend count is released Monday, "The Avengers" would be the first
movie ever to haul in $200 million in a single weekend.

While the number could dip below $200 million come Monday, Disney
spent the weekend revising its forecasts upward as business kept
growing.

"There aren't even words, to be honest. I'm running low on double
takes. Every time we looked at a number, it just got bigger than what
we could have hoped for in the best-case assumption," said Dave
Hollis, Disney's head of distribution. "With this film, this weekend,
anything is possible."

"The Avengers" started with solid midnight crowds Friday, though
nowhere near a record. Then it did $80.5 million for the full day
Friday, second only to the "Harry Potter" finale's $91.1 million first
day.

Revenues held up much better than expected with $69.7 million
Saturday, and Disney estimated that the film would bring in $50.1
million more on Sunday.

The record weekend was the culmination of years of careful planning by
Marvel Studios, which has included teasers for an "Avengers" dream
team collaboration in its solo superhero adventures.

Directed by Joss Whedon ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer"), "The Avengers"
features Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Chris Evans as Captain
America, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk, Scarlett
Johansson as Black Widow, Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye and Samuel L.
Jackson as Nick Fury.

A $200 million total for every movie in release is considered a great
weekend for the business as a whole, so "The Avengers" redefines the
standards for a blockbuster debut.

"If 'The Avengers' is any indication, we're going to see a leap rather
than a gentle little nudge into new territory, and the lineup is there
to justify it going forward," said Greg Foster, chairman and president
of the huge-screen IMAX cinema chain.

Crowds were so anxious to see the film on IMAX's giant screens that
Foster said the company had only one problem: it ran out of seats to
sell.

Overall domestic revenues came in at $248 million, climbing 49 percent
compared to the same weekend last year, when "Thor" opened with $65.7
million, according to box-office tracker Hollywood.com. "The Avengers"
accounted for four-fifths of the weekend's domestic receipts.

Hollywood launched a potentially record-shattering summer with a
vengeance, "The Avengers" landing as just the first of three huge
superhero tales that highlight a lineup filled with other blockbusters
in the making.

"The Amazing Spider-Man" follows on July 3 and "The Dark Knight Rises"
wraps up the current Batman series on July 20.

Until the "Harry Potter" finale, 2008's "The Dark Knight" had held the
revenue record with a $158.4 million debut. Before that, the record-
holder was 2007's "Spider-Man 3" with $151.1 million.

So anticipation for those two films could rival that of "The
Avengers."

As admission prices rise, Hollywood's record-breakers often take in
more money but sell fewer tickets than previous blockbusters. But "The
Avengers" took in so much money that it's the undisputed champ among
debuts.

Based on average admission prices the years they were released, "The
Dark Knight" and "Spider-Man 3" had led with about 22 million tickets
sold each over opening weekend. Today's average prices put "The
Avengers" tally at around 25.6 million tickets sold.

Along with the superhero films, Hollywood's summer lineup includes the
action tales "Men in Black 3," ''G.I. Joe: Retaliation,"
''Battleship," ''Total Recall" and "Prometheus," director Ridley
Scott's return to the sci-fi territory of his horror hit "Alien."

Big family fare includes the animated adventures "Brave," from "Toy
Story" creator Pixar Animation, and the sequels "Ice Age: Continental
Drift" and "Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted."

The comedy lineup features Adam Sandler's "That's My Boy," Will
Ferrell's "The Campaign" and Sacha Baron Cohen's "The Dictator."

"'The Avengers' kicks off what looks to me to be the summer box-office
equivalent of the 100-year flood," said Hollywood.com analyst Paul
Dergarabedian. "This is perhaps the most perfect summer lineup in box-
office history."

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian
theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest
international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will
be released Monday.

1. "The Avengers," $200.3 million ($151.5 million international).
2. "Think Like a Man," $8 million.
3. "The Hunger Games," $5.7 million.
4. "The Lucky One," $5.5 million.
5. "The Pirates! Band of Misfits," $5.4 million ($2.6 million
international).
6. "The Five-Year Engagement," $5.1 million ($2.3 million
international).
7. "The Raven," $2.5 million.
8. "Safe," $2.47 million.
9. "Chimpanzee," $2.4 million.
10. "The Three Stooges," $1.8 million.

[Arthur Lipscomb]

On 5/7/2012 6:16 AM, Movie Fan wrote:
>
> "Avengers" smashes record with $200.3M box office
>
> http://is.gd/3fVpgX
>
> (AP) LOS ANGELES - Hulk, smash.
>
> That's what Captain America tells the Incredible Hulk to do in "The
> Avengers," and that's what the Marvel Comics superhero mash-up did at
> the box office, smashing the domestic revenue record with a $200.3
> million debut.
>
> It's by far the biggest opening ever, shooting past the previous
> record of $169.2 million for the debut of last year's "Harry Potter"
> finale.
>

The Warner stock holders need to clear house of whoever is standing in
the way of a Justice League movie.


snip

>
> Crowds were so anxious to see the film on IMAX's giant screens that
> Foster said the company had only one problem: it ran out of seats to
> sell.
>

I hope this doesn't mean more fake IMAX theaters.

[Mike Hall]

On 13/05/2012 17:58, Arthur Lipscomb wrote:

> The Warner stock holders need to clear house of whoever is standing in
> the way of a Justice League movie.

Need half-decent Green Lantern, Hawkman, Aquaman and Flash films to do
this. The Avengers was based on two good Iron Man flicks, and fair
Thor, Captain American and Hulk movies. The movies were working towards
Avengers too.

The Batman franchise will stay away from the JLA because it could only
hurt the character. Green Lantern sucked. Flash, Hawkman and Aquaman
could have really good movies though.


Mike Hall

[Ted Nolan <tednolan>]

In article <QxSrr.481167$ed1....@fx04.am4>,

Hawkman would be very hard to do because the costume is just silly when
you don't have a comic artist (or animator) on the character's side.
--
------
columbiaclosings.com
What's not in Columbia anymore..

[Ohioguy]

Green Lantern sucked. Flash, Hawkman and Aquaman
> could have really good movies though.

Green Lantern was decent, though not spectacular. I watched it twice
at the theater, and then again recently on DVD.

I think that perhaps the film could have been a bit more
earth-centric, and maybe they should have saved the whole "Oa/Green
Lantern Corps" bit for the second movie.

Green Lantern is one of my favorite DC characters. While I feel they
could have done it a bit better, I was satisfied, and I felt that it was
one of the few 3D movies that was worth paying the premium to watch.

[Mike Hall]

On 13/05/2012 19:06, Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:
> In article<QxSrr.481167$ed1....@fx04.am4>,
> Mike Hall<tar...@spam3spam.yahoo.com> wrote:
>> On 13/05/2012 17:58, Arthur Lipscomb wrote:
>>
>>> The Warner stock holders need to clear house of whoever is standing in
>>> the way of a Justice League movie.
>>
>> Need half-decent Green Lantern, Hawkman, Aquaman and Flash films to do
>> this. The Avengers was based on two good Iron Man flicks, and fair
>> Thor, Captain American and Hulk movies. The movies were working towards
>> Avengers too.
>>
>> The Batman franchise will stay away from the JLA because it could only
>> hurt the character. Green Lantern sucked. Flash, Hawkman and Aquaman
>> could have really good movies though.

> Hawkman would be very hard to do because the costume is just silly when
> you don't have a comic artist (or animator) on the character's side.

You just need a half-naked muscle-man wearing wings (sometimes) for
Hawkman. No need for a beak on the helmet if if doesn't look right. I
think Aquaman is the problem if they go for original costumes.

Black Canary would be the final piece. The Black Canary character could
be rewritten to make a decent film too. Zatanna is silly in comic books
so shouldn't be attempted in live-action!


Mike Hall

[Invid Fan]

In article <QxSrr.481167$ed1....@fx04.am4>, Mike Hall
<tar...@spam3spam.yahoo.com> wrote:

> On 13/05/2012 17:58, Arthur Lipscomb wrote:
>
> > The Warner stock holders need to clear house of whoever is standing in
> > the way of a Justice League movie.
>
> Need half-decent Green Lantern, Hawkman, Aquaman and Flash films to do
> this.

Why? Just drop them in. Every superhero doesn't need an origin story
before you can use the character in a film.

--
Chris Mack "If we show any weakness, the monsters will get cocky!"
'Invid Fan' - 'Yokai Monsters Along With Ghosts'

[Lilith]

On Sun, 13 May 2012 22:54:09 +0100, Mike Hall

<tar...@spam3spam.yahoo.com> wrote:

>On 13/05/2012 19:06, Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:
>> In article<QxSrr.481167$ed1....@fx04.am4>,
>> Mike Hall<tar...@spam3spam.yahoo.com> wrote:
>>> On 13/05/2012 17:58, Arthur Lipscomb wrote:
>>>
>>>> The Warner stock holders need to clear house of whoever is standing in
>>>> the way of a Justice League movie.
>>>
>>> Need half-decent Green Lantern, Hawkman, Aquaman and Flash films to do
>>> this. The Avengers was based on two good Iron Man flicks, and fair
>>> Thor, Captain American and Hulk movies. The movies were working towards
>>> Avengers too.
>>>
>>> The Batman franchise will stay away from the JLA because it could only
>>> hurt the character. Green Lantern sucked. Flash, Hawkman and Aquaman
>>> could have really good movies though.
>
>> Hawkman would be very hard to do because the costume is just silly when
>> you don't have a comic artist (or animator) on the character's side.
>
>You just need a half-naked muscle-man wearing wings (sometimes) for
>Hawkman. No need for a beak on the helmet if if doesn't look right. I
>think Aquaman is the problem if they go for original costumes.

I think they did fairly well with the Hawkman character's costume in
Smallville.

>Black Canary would be the final piece. The Black Canary character could
>be rewritten to make a decent film too. Zatanna is silly in comic books
>so shouldn't be attempted in live-action!

Trying to remember what Zatanna wore in Smallville. Generally she was
appearing as an entertainer so the tux look wasn't too out of place.
>
>Mike Hall

--
Lilith

[Mike Hall]

On 14/05/2012 03:38, Lilith wrote:
> On Sun, 13 May 2012 22:54:09 +0100, Mike Hall
> <tar...@spam3spam.yahoo.com> wrote:

>> You just need a half-naked muscle-man wearing wings (sometimes) for
>> Hawkman. No need for a beak on the helmet if if doesn't look right. I
>> think Aquaman is the problem if they go for original costumes.
>
> I think they did fairly well with the Hawkman character's costume in
> Smallville.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5d0mQfyOeoc

The helmet was too big IMO and the actor needed more muscles. Probably
a wrestler should play Hawkman.

>> Black Canary would be the final piece. The Black Canary character could
>> be rewritten to make a decent film too. Zatanna is silly in comic books
>> so shouldn't be attempted in live-action!
>
> Trying to remember what Zatanna wore in Smallville. Generally she was
> appearing as an entertainer so the tux look wasn't too out of place.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7MQD4sHWGw

The villains are supposed to take her seriously? I don't think outright
magic will ever work in live-action superheroics anyway. The Asgardians
power wasn't referred to as magic in recent movies.


Mike Hall

[Duggy]

On May 14, 7:54 am, Mike Hall <tar...@spam3spam.yahoo.com> wrote:
> You just need a half-naked muscle-man wearing wings (sometimes) for
> Hawkman.  No need for a beak on the helmet if if doesn't look right.

The wings are the hard part. Bad props and obvious CGI are pretty
standard for them. And that looks silly. You'd have to get the wings
right and that's hard.

> I think Aquaman is the problem if they go for original costumes.

They don't seem to.

> Black Canary would be the final piece.  The Black Canary character could
> be rewritten to make a decent film too.

Black Canary works well with Green Arrow. Throw them into a lead-in
film together.

>  Zatanna is silly in comic books
> so shouldn't be attempted in live-action!

As a kid I hated magic in superhero comics. I don't have a problem
now, but I think the movie audience does. And if they don't, the
execs think they do. Hense Thor moving away from magic and Supergirl
sucking.

===
= DUG.
===

[Duggy]

On May 14, 4:35 am, Ohioguy <n...@none.net> wrote:
>    I think that perhaps the film could have been a bit more
> earth-centric, and maybe they should have saved the whole "Oa/Green
> Lantern Corps" bit for the second movie.

Then GL because just another Superhero movie. And people will say
"leave it for the 3rd movie. Make the second Earth-centric."

===
= DUG.
===

[Duggy]

On May 14, 3:52 am, Mike Hall <tar...@spam3spam.yahoo.com> wrote:
> Need half-decent Green Lantern, Hawkman, Aquaman and Flash films to do
> this.  The Avengers was based on two good Iron Man flicks, and fair
> Thor, Captain American and Hulk movies.  The movies were working towards
> Avengers too.

True. The GL flick was a bad start (but salvageable) but when making
GL they were looking at it as a GL film and if successful other DC
films. The Avengers films were a lot more carefully planned.

> The Batman franchise will stay away from the JLA because it could only
> hurt the character.

The theory is that this is the last Batman film anyway (of this
series). Strangely they got annoyed by not being consulted about the
JLA film that was in the works.

> Green Lantern sucked.  Flash, Hawkman and Aquaman
> could have really good movies though.

But GL sucked made those less likely.

===
= DUG.
===

[Duggy]

On May 14, 7:58 am, Invid Fan <in...@loclanet.com> wrote:
> In article <QxSrr.481167$ed1.24...@fx04.am4>, Mike Hall

> > Need half-decent Green Lantern, Hawkman, Aquaman and Flash films to do
> > this.
> Why? Just drop them in. Every superhero doesn't need an origin story
> before you can use the character in a film.

If the Avengers was movie 1 it would not have had the box office it
did.

Superman and Batman don't need a lead-in movie even if it's a new
Superman and Batman because people know them pretty well. GL you
could ignore the previous film but assume knowledge from it. The
Flash TV series was too long ago to assume knowledge from.

You don't need origin films, but it would help.

Green Arrow (with Black Canary) would be cheap and easy to start.

If the films do well, a Incredible Hulk-like "let's ignore the first
movie" GL sequel (or just use the guy).

I think you could build a couple of origins into the JLA film.
Thanagarians destroy Mars (one survivor) and attack Earth. Katar
rebels, helps JLA.

The big problem is the Big Three.

Leave Superman, Batman & Wonder Woman out and you have hassles. Leave
them in and they over-shadow the rest of the cast.

===
= DUG.
===

[Ohioguy]

> As a kid I hated magic in superhero comics. I don't have a problem
> now, but I think the movie audience does. And if they don't, the
> execs think they do. Hense Thor moving away from magic and Supergirl
> sucking.

I've always preferred magic in superhero comics. That is probably
why I liked Thor, Shazam/Captain Marvel and Green Lantern the most. I
always thought of Green Lantern as having a very powerful magical
artifact. I hate when they try to explain this stuff away
scientifically. Then again, I also hate it when they say "it's magic,
we can do whatever we want - no rules!"

And really, the most annoying, intrusive and obnoxious scene in Thor
was when he was saying "what you call science, we call magic"... blech.

[Ohioguy]

> If the films do well, a Incredible Hulk-like "let's ignore the first
> movie" GL sequel (or just use the guy).

You just ignore Sinestro putting on the yellow ring and turning
yellow? I think the sequel should embrace that. It would make the
sequel like Star Trek II is to the original Star Trek movie. (much
better, because the original movie was supposed to be a TV episode)

[Duggy]

On May 18, 8:26 am, Ohioguy <n...@none.net> wrote:
> > As a kid I hated magic in superhero comics.  I don't have a problem
> > now, but I think the movie audience does.  And if they don't, the
> > execs think they do.  Hense Thor moving away from magic and Supergirl
> > sucking.
>
>    I've always preferred magic in superhero comics.

As I said, I didn't. I think the main thing that bugged me was there
were no "rules" to follow. Superman had set powers so you knew what
he could or couldn't do. Magic users just seemed to forget they could
do stuff or "it doesn't work that way" the deux ex machina at the end.

But I may have had a bad experience.

> That is probably
> why I liked Thor, Shazam/Captain Marvel and Green Lantern the most.  I
> always thought of Green Lantern as having a very powerful magical
> artifact.

A magic source for powers I'm a little better with. After all, the
scientific sources are pretty much "it's magic."

> I hate when they try to explain this stuff away
> scientifically.  Then again, I also hate it when they say "it's magic,
> we can do whatever we want - no rules!"

True.

>    And really, the most annoying, intrusive and obnoxious scene in Thor
> was when he was saying "what you call science, we call magic"... blech.

Fair enough.

I said that the general audience dislikes magic is superhero films (or
execs think that they do). How do you feel about that statement? Do
you think they dislike it too or is my opinion coloured by opinion?

===
= DUG.
===

[Duggy]

On May 18, 8:29 am, Ohioguy <n...@none.net> wrote:
> > If the films do well, a Incredible Hulk-like "let's ignore the first
> > movie" GL sequel (or just use the guy).

>    You just ignore Sinestro putting on the yellow ring and turning
> yellow?  I think the sequel should embrace that.

In a new series ignoring the old you can have a Yellow-Ring-wearing-
Sinestro.

Like Punisher: War Journal ignored Punisher but assumed you knew his
origin from it. Incredible Hulk ignored Hulk but assumed you knew his
origin from it. Or Superman Returns ignored Superman III & IV and
parts of I & II but assumed you knew his and Lex's origins from it.

> It would make the
> sequel like Star Trek II is to the original Star Trek movie. (much
> better, because the original movie was supposed to be a TV episode)

Double episode. Based on an idea for an episode of "Genesis II"

===
= DUG.
===

[~consul]

'tis on this 5/17/2012 3:40 PM, wrote Duggy thus to say:
> On May 18, 8:26 am, Ohioguy<n...@none.net> wrote:
>>> As a kid I hated magic in superhero comics. I don't have a problem
>>> now, but I think the movie audience does. And if they don't, the
>>> execs think they do. Hense Thor moving away from magic and Supergirl
>>> sucking.
>> I've always preferred magic in superhero comics.
> As I said, I didn't. I think the main thing that bugged me was there
> were no "rules" to follow. Superman had set powers so you knew what
> he could or couldn't do. Magic users just seemed to forget they could
> do stuff or "it doesn't work that way" the deux ex machina at the end.

haahahahahahaahahah about Superman and his set powers. :D

That said, the Magic in Avengers seemed minimal, but I don't think a the DC girl in the tux speaking backwards would work.
It was "eh" when Loki was doing his change of clothes.
--
"... respect, all good works are not done by only good folk. For here, at the end of all things, we shall do what needs to be done."
--till next time, consul -x- <<poetry.dolphins-cove.com>>