The Avengers once again rules the international box office and North American

In its third-weekend roll-out, The Avengers once again pulled in great numbers that kept it in the #1 seat for the third week straight. With two newcomers--Battleship and The Dictator--, the superhero juggernaut earned an estimated $55.1 million over its third weekend, marking the second-highest third weekend gross right behind Avatar which earned $68.5 million back in December 2009. From last weekend record breaking $103.1 million, the pic dropped a decent 46.6% which stands well compared to other superhero titles--Iron Man 2(49.3%), and Thor (55.5%). However, both The Dark Knight's and Spider-man's third-weekend drops were less with 43.2% and 36.9% respectively. However, with its $55.1 million The Avengers domestic cume now stands at a staggering $457.1 million which is the 6th highest gross of all time domestically;right behind Star Wars. What is more interesting is the celerity with which the film reached the $450 million threshold; a record 17 days which surpasses The Dark Knight's 27 day record by a significant 10 day difference. A North American gross above $540 million is guaranteed for Marvel's highest-grossing film of all-time--The Avengers.

Internationally, The Avengers also amassed a powerful $56.0 million from 54 territories(95% of int. market) which is a decent drop of 32.5% from last weekend's $93.8 million. The Avengers international haul is now at $723.3 million which is the #7 highest-grossing film of all time internationally. In Latin America, the superhero tent-pole has already earned $171 million, overcoming the total revenue of Avatar and Titanic to become the highest grossing film of all-time in that territory. With this much energy in overseas markets, The Avengers will have no problem passing the $800 million threshold and possibly the $900 million when it is released in Japan. Summing up both domestic and international numbers, The Avengers now has $1.180 billion globally--the 4th highest-grossing film of all time globally.

List of Records Set by The Avengers:
1. Biggest Opening Weekend ($207.8 million)
2. Biggest Opening Saturday and Sunday
3. Fastest Movie to reach $100, $200, $300, $400, $450 million
4. Highest 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th day gross.
5. Biggest second weekend of all time ($103.1 million)
6. Highest Grossing Disney film of all-time both globally and domestically
7. ...

Believe it or not, there were other films at the box office. However, The Avengers superhero power smashed any newcomers. Battleship debuted to a flaccid $25.3 million which is really off the anticipated $35-40 million range. At this stage, Battleship doesn't seem to have the power to pass the $70 million in the long run. Universal's so called new "Transformers franchise" didn't sum up to anything and opened less than John Carter, another box office flop that cost Disney many losses. However, international figures are better with $215.3 million which compensates for the production budget of $209 million.(excluding marketing costs and any other miscellaneous costs.)

The Dictator, an R rated film, also opened to an underwhelming $17.4 million that is no where close to other films of the same genre.