Marvel’s ‘The Avengers’ Breaking More Records At The Box Office

The record breaking ways of Marvel’s ‘The Avengers’ don’t seem to be letting up no time soon, as Walt Disney Pictures has today announced that ‘The Avengers’ has climbed to the 6th spot on the all-time worldwide box office list, grossing $1.070 billion worldwide – big chee$e! This makes the superhero ensemble the highest-grossing Disney release ever. Additionally, Marvel’s ‘The Avengers’ set a new US box office record yesterday, May 17th, by reaching the $400 million box office threshold in just 14 days. The previous record of 18 days was held by Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Dark Knight.’The films international gross is currently sitting at $668.7 million, while the US gross has reached $402 million.

Continuing the epic big-screen adventures started in ‘Iron Man,’ ‘The Incredible Hulk,’ ‘Iron Man 2,’ ‘Thor,’ and ‘Captain America: The First Avenger,’ the global box office for ‘The Avengers’ has already surpassed the totals of those individual films. The totals for those preceding films are: ‘Iron Man’ with $585.1 million worldwide, ‘The Incredible Hulk’ with $263.4 million worldwide, ’Iron Man 2′ with $623.9 million worldwide, ’Thor’ with $449.3 million worldwide, and finally ‘Captain America’ with $368.6 million worldwide.

Directed by Joss Whedon, ‘The Avengers’ (‘Avengers Assemble’ in the UK) stars Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye/Clint Barton), Robert Downey Jr (Iron Man/Tony Stark), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), Scarlett Johansson (Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow), Chris Evans (Captain America/Steve Rogers), Mark Ruffalo (Bruce Banner/Hulk), and Tom Hiddleston (Loki). The likes of Cobie Smulders, Clark Gregg, and Stellen Skarsgard co-star.  On May 8th, Walt Disney Pictures announced that a sequel to Marvel’s ‘The Avengers’ was in development, following last month’s announcement that a follow-up to 2011′s ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’ will be released April 4th, 2014. A sequel to last summer’s ‘Thor’ is scheduled for release November 15th, 2013, and the third installment of the hit ‘Iron Man’ series, which has earned over $1.2 billion worldwide, will arrive in theaters May 3th, 2013.

Continuing the epic big-screen adventures started in “Iron Man,” “The Incredible Hulk,” “Iron Man 2,” “Thor,” and “Captain America: The First Avenger,” “Marvel’s The Avengers” is the super hero team up of a lifetime. When an unexpected enemy emerges that threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. 

Based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series, first published in 1963, “Marvel’s The Avengers” brings together the mightiest super hero characters as they all assemble together on screen for the first time. The star studded cast of super heroes will be joined by Cobie Smulders (“How I Met Your Mother) as Agent Maria Hill of S.H.I.E.L.D., as well as Tom Hiddleston (“Wallander”) and Stellan Skarsgård (“Angels & Demons,” “Mamma Mia!”) who will both reprise their respective roles as Loki and Professor Erik Selvig from the upcoming Marvel Studios’ feature “Thor.”

“Marvel’s The Avengers” is being produced by Marvel Studios’ President, Kevin Feige, and executive produced by Alan Fine, Stan Lee, Louis D’Esposito, Patty Whitcher, and Jon Favreau. Marvel Studios’ Jeremy Latcham and Victoria Alonso will co-produce.

The creative production team also includes Oscar nominated director of photography Seamus McGarvey (“Atonement”), production designer James Chinlund (“25th Hour”), Oscar winning costume designer Alexandra Byrne (“Elizabeth: The Golden Age”), Oscar winning visual effects supervisor Janek Sirrs (“Iron Man 2,” “The Matrix”), visual effects producer Susan Pickett (“Iron Man,” “Iron Man 2″), stunt coordinator R.A. Rondell (“Superman Returns”), and four-time Oscar nominated special effects supervisor Dan Sudick (“Iron Man,” “War of the Worlds”). The editors include Oscar nominated Paul Rubell (“Collateral”) and Jeffrey Ford (“Crazy Heart”).