It’s been almost a month since The Avengers opened internationally and boy did this film gross a lot of money. As expected, there wasn’t much in the way of competition last weekend so the superhero flick was #1 again.

Over the years superhero movies have never been incredibly popular outside North America, I mean sure, there’s Batman and Spider-Man but can you think of another such film that made an insane amount of money? The answer is no, or at least it was no until The Avengers dropped on us. This box office giant made another $59.1 million over the weekend, bringing its total to an unbelievable $726.4 million (a new record for superhero movies). Worldwide the number is even more impressive, $1.19 billion so 4th place on the all time chart. Currently Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 is 3rd with $1.32 billion, but it’s only a matter of weeks until The Avengers flies past it. Now 2nd place, Titanic with $2.18 billion, that’s unfortunately out of reach, so in the end The Avengers will have to settle for the bronze medal worldwide.

Surprisingly Dark Shadows had a very solid 2nd weekend with $31 million, good for 2nd place and $81.8 million internationally. Worldwide the Tim Burton directed horror comedy has made $135 million.

3rd place belongs to newcomer The Dictator with a hefty $30.8 million, damn good start for Sasha Baron Cohen in 29 countries. Worldwide the politically incorrect comedy has $59.5 million. In 2006 Borat made $261.5 million worldwide while Bruno in 2009, only $138.8 million. From the looks of things The Dictator should finish somewhere between the two for the British comedian, closer to Borat.

American Reunion was 4th thanks to $9.7 million and right now Stifler and co. have $216 million worldwide. But that’s still last in its class with all previous films making more money (from $231.4 million all the way to $287.6 million for American Pie 2).

Battleship rounds out the top 5 with $6.1 million. Internationally the film has $227.3 million while worldwide (including US) things aren’t much better, only $257.4 million. This will probably finish around $300 million, quite a bust for Universal considering they spent $200 million on it. Also this is probably one of the main reasons why Paramount moved the G.I. Joe sequel, as in they think Battleship would have made more money in 3D.

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It was another great weekend for The Avengers at the international box office where once again the film finished at #1. Actually, The Avengers made so much money so fast that it already ranks 42nd on the all time worldwide chart after just 13 days in release.

A week ago The Avengers scored the 9th biggest foreign opening weekend ever, today it continues to shine with one of the best 2nd weekends of all time. The flick collected $157.4 million from 52 markets, bringing its international gross to a 13-day total of $500.1 million (2nd ever for a superhero film), already more than any other Avengers film. At this rate the Joss Whedon directed flick should more than double Iron Man 2‘s international gross of $311.5 million in less than a week. Worldwide, thanks to a monstrous opening in North America, The Avengers has amassed $744.1 million, making it by far the highest grosser of 2012. Sometime next week the flick should either pass or come really close to the $1 billion mark. As far as its final number is concerned, The Avengers could finish anywhere between $1.2 and $1.3 billion, maybe even higher. Currently Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 ranks 3rd all-time worldwide with $1.32 billion, The Avengers should aim for that number.

In 2nd American Reunion had its best weekend yet, $33.5 million, after strong debuts in the UK, France, Italy and Spain. The R-rated comedy has made $117.2 million so far internationally and it should end up with a series best when all will be said and done (right now American Pie 2 is the leader with $142.5 million). Worldwide American Reunion is at $172.6 million, more than three times its reported $50 million budget.

3rd place belongs to Battleship with $11 million for a $200.1 million total so far, ahead of its May 18th release date in North America. Seems like this Battleship is sinking faster than the RMS Titanic.

The Hunger Games finished the weekend in 4th with $6.4 million, bringing its international total to $237 million while worldwide the film has $618 million and ranks 2nd in 2012 so far.

Rounding out the top 5 is The Lucky One with $5.4 million. Internationally the film has made $17.9 million, worldwide the number is $66.7 million. As far as Nicholas Sparks adaptations go, this ranks on the low end currently. We shall see if that will change in the coming months when the film opens in more countries.

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Marvel’s The Avengers is finally upon us, well, technically only upon 39 countries right now. Still, that was enough to make it the 9th highest opener of all time internationally, no small feat mind you.

Back in 2008 Marvel started phase 1 of the Avengers initiative by releasing Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk in theaters. In 2010 we got Iron Man 2 while last year Thor and Captain America, arguably the hardest Avengers to adapt, graced the big screen with their adventures. Those films garnered success, some more than others (Iron Man 2 being the best seller worldwide with $623.9 million).

Phase 2 of the Avengers initiative made its debut in 39 countries last week and it did so with one hell of a bang, $185.1 million. That’s twice as much as Iron Man 2 on its opening and that film finished with $311.5 million internationally. Now as a long time Joss Whedon fan you could call me biased but The Avengers is a heck of a lot better than Iron Man 2 was and, as mentioned above, opened much much better. So basic math tells me that Marvel’s The Avengers is headed for over $600 million around the world (excluding the US), a new record for superhero movies. What basic math doesn’t cover is the fact that The Avengers has yet to open in territories like China, Russia or Japan, all extremely strong markets. So I’m going to call it right now, The Avengers won’t stop before hitting at the very least $700 million internationally. Add to that a most likely very healthy US gross and we might be looking at the first film of 2012 to pass the $1 billion mark worldwide. For now The Avengers stands at $218.2 million internationally but expect the film to pass the $500 million mark worldwide by the end of the week.

To find #2 we have to go way down where Battleship collected $22.5 million for a total of around $170 million so far. The former leader is set to open in the US on May 18th.

Titanic 3D added another $12.5 million in 3rd for an international re-release total of $260.6 million. At least for a few more days this remains the top grosser of 2012 outside the US. The overall worldwide figure for Titanic is now $2.16 billion.

American Reunion was 4th with $14.5 million. That means the comedy has made $128.9 million worldwide so far.

Rounding out the top 5 we have The Hunger Games with $7.4 million for a new international total of $228.5 million. Worldwide, the book adaptation has just passed the $600 million mark, a feat only 64 other films ever accomplished.

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Comedy Think Like a Man shines again on top of the box office thanks to an underwhelming line-up of new films. Also, The Hunger Games had the smallest drop in the top 10, now $6 million ahead of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 at the same point in its run.

So Think Like a Man repeats at #1 with $17.6 million, that’s a 10-day total of $60.4 million which is already 5 times its $12 million production budget. To think that not even distributor Screen Gems had much in the way of faith when it came to this flick, releasing Think Like a Man in little over 2000 theaters.

The Pirates! Band of Misfits was 2nd with a middling $11.1 million opening. That must be the lowest debut I’ve ever seen for an Aardman animation, although I’m not gonna proclaim the death of stop-motion just yet. We still got ParaNorman and Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie scheduled for 2012.

The Hunger Games remained 3rd with a new gross of $10.8 million, totalling $372 million in 38 days. $390 million seems like a done deal and there is even a small chance it could eventually reach $400 million. The Lucky One was 4th with $10.8 million or $39.4 million after 10 days.

The film I thought would lead the weekend, The Five-Year Engagement, was an underwhelming 5th with a $10.6 million opening. That’s way below what past films from Jason Segel and director Nick Stoller have done in the past, flicks like Forgetting Sarah Marshall ($17.7 million opening) and Get Him to the Greek ($17.5 million opening). Personally I blame the marketing guys for the failure of this film, I mean the first really good trailer for The Five-Year Engagement came just little over one week ago.

The last new wide openers of the weekend were in 6th and 7th, namely Safe starring Jason Statham with $7.8 million and The Raven starring John Cusack with $7.2 million. For Jason Statham, Safe is on the lower end of his career box office wise while Cusack, well, he’s had much worse.

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Historically the last weekend of April has been a dumping ground but in recent years, thanks to films like Fast Five, that has changed. While none of the flicks opening today plan to go that far, it should still be a good final spring weekend, most likely lead by The Five-Year Engagement.

The guys behind comedies like Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him to the Greek, actor/writer Jason Segel and director/writer Nick Stoller, bring us The Five Year Engagement. Starring Jason Segel, Emily Blunt and sporting a 60% rating on Rotten Tomatoes right now, this film should have no problem finishing the weekend first with $21 million or more. Back in 2008 Forgetting Sarah Marshall opened with $17.7 million while Get Him to the Greek had $17.5 million, so The Five-Year Engagement might mark a new high for the Segel and Stoller duo.

Former leader Think Like a Man has to fend off the latest Aardman animation for it to come in 2nd. While the mostly black comedy has the upper hand here and should bring in at least $18 million, The Pirates! Band of Misfits is no slouch either. The highest an Aardman animated flick has ever opened was in 2006 with Flushed Away at $18.8 million. With a Rotten Tomatoes rating 87%, about the only thing going against The Pirates! is the stop-motion animation used to make it, unfortunately not as popular as CGI these days. I’m going to say $17.5 million and 3rd for the weekend.

Romantic flick The Lucky One will probably be 4th with $12 million for a 10-day total of $40 million while The Hunger Games should round out the top 5 with $9 million for a new total of $370 million in 38 days. That would put the flick $4 million ahead of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 at the same point in its run.

We have two more movies opening wide today, The Raven, a thriller where John Cusack plays Edgar Allan Poe, and Safe, an R-rated action flick starring everyone’s favorite semi-bold British guy, Jason Statham. The John Cusack flick is absolutely trashed by critics (19% on Rotten Tomatoes) but the subject matter could still bring a few buts in sits, so I think $8 million sounds about right. With Safe I’m not expecting more than $7 million.

Next week the summer season starts at the box office with Marvel’s The Avengers, quite simply the stuff fanboy dreams are made of.

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In this situation James Cameron could say “you sank my ship” since that’s just what the board game inspired Battleship did last weekend around the world. But in just a few days The Avengers opens in most foreign markets and I believe that’s when both Battleship and Titanic will forever get lost in the depths of the international box office.

Battleship drew $60 million in its 2nd weekend in release for a total of $131.1 million internationally. That’s a good tally so far for the expensive ($200 million) sci-fi flick. I can see this doing at least $120 million more around the world so whether or not it can double its budget, is a question that will probably be answered May 18th when the film opens in North America.

Titanic 3D dropped to 2nd place with $33.6 million and brings its international re-release total to a hefty $225.3 million ($105.2 million coming from China). Here’s an interesting little fact, that total makes Titanic 3D the highest foreign grosser of 2012 so far, kind of mind blowing if you remember this is a movie first released in 1997. The James Cameron epic now sits at $2,121.8 million worldwide making Titanic the 2nd film ever to pass the $2 billion mark. Sure, it took its time but the sinking ship finally got there. To beat Avatar, Titanic needs “just” $660.5 million more.

The Hunger Games finished the weekend in 3rd with $14.5 million bringing the popular book adaptation to a $217 million foreign total. Worldwide Katniss Everdeen has taken $575 million and it should pass the $600 million mark sometime next week.

American Reunion was 4th grossing $10.1 million which means the Stifmeister and co. have made 56.7 million internationally for a worldwide of $105.7 million. That’s still less than half of what prior installments collected so unfortunately this might be the last time we’ll hear about dos and don’ts from Jim’s Dad.

Wrath of the Titans rounds out the top 5 with $8.8 million. The disappointing sequel to an already disappointing remake has made $202 million internationally thus far, a good deal less then what was expected from it. Worldwide, the flick sits at $278.5 million and it should eventually crawl its way to $300 million.

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Quite a weekend this was, with two surprisingly strong new entries and for the first time in a month Katniss Everdeen did not finish first. There was also a nature documentary posting a new record for the genre, while at the same time cracking the top 5.

Sony/Screen Gems comedy Think Like a Man made its debut in 1st place with a staggering $33.6 million. I say staggering because you just don’t see this level of success from an all-black comedy, unless Tyler Perry is involved. If it can stay strong in the next 2-3 weeks, then I could see a potential $100 million by the end of its run.

In 2nd we had The Lucky One with $22.5 million. Believe it or not, that’s actually the 2nd best opening for a Nicholas Sparks adaptation, only Dear John (2010) ranking higher with $30.4 million. Like almost every other Sparks film, it will likely triple that opening weekend when all is said and done, so $60-70 million in North America.

The odds have been in Katniss Everdeen’s favor over the past 4 weeks, but not anymore with the film dropping to 3rd. That being said, thanks to another $14.6 million this weekend (2nd smallest drop in the top 10), The Hunger Games has reached a colossal $357 million in North America, making it the current 19th highest grosser of all time. Actually by the time you read this, the film will already be 18th and getting ever so close to 17th (The Passion of Christ, $370.7 million). To give you an idea of just how strong The Hunger Games has been week over week, after 7 days in release the film was at $189.9 million. Now the last chapter in the Harry Potter series had made $226.1 million after 7 days, so there was a $36.2 million gap between the two. After 31 days, The Hunger Games sits just $0.3 million shy of Deathly Hallows Part 2 at the same point in its run. That film finished with $381 million in North America so The Hunger Games might go up to $390 million. What’s more impressive is that Katniss had no 3D to aid her.

Nature documentaries aren’t exactly what you’d expect to find in a box office top 10 but in the last few years Disney has consistently opened them around Earth Day. They found moderate success at the box office with titles like Earth (2009, $32 million), Oceans (2010, $19.4 million) and African Cats (2011, $15.4 million). In 2012 we have Chimpanzee opening with $10.6 million, a new record for nature documentaries.

Rounding out the top 5 was The Three Stooges with $9.7 million for a 10-day total of $29.9 million.

The Cabin in the Woods, an almost perfect genre deconstruction piece and one of my favorite films of 2012 thus far, was 6th with $8 million. That means $27.2 million after 10 days, making The Cabin in the Woods the 18th highest grossing horror-comedy of all time for now.

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The 3D re-release of Titanic was close but not nearly enough to take the lead, so Wrath of the Titans claimed the #1 spot again. The Hunger Games continued to perform well while American Reunion had a series-high opening. Overall it was a good weekend at the box office.

A week before, Wrath of the Titans had no trouble securing the top spot at the international box office but this past weekend there was some serious competition. Alas, thanks to another $42.1 million, Wrath of the Titans maintained its lead. So far the sequel has made $151.6 million internationally, quite a nice number, matching the $150 million production budget. The thing is Wrath needs to at least double that number and the US sure isn’t helping with a mediocre $61.8 million so far, bringing the worldwide tally to $213.6 million. It should ultimately pass $300 million worldwide so Warner Bros. probably won’t lose money here, just don’t expect to see Perseus again, at least not in a sequel to this.

Titanic, once top dog on just about every all-time chart, made $35.2 million during its first 3D weekend around the world. That’s quite a catch for a re-release, actually so far this has made $53 million internationally (opened on Wednesday), bringing the film to a new worldwide total of $1,925.9 million. That means it will pass the $2 billion mark sometime this month, making Titanic the second film to ever achieve that, after Avatar, another James Cameron flick and the current top dog on the all-time charts.

The Hunger Games was 3rd with $26.5 million and that means $157.1 million internationally or about half the US total. That being said, this is by no means disappointing, quite the contrary. With a worldwide gross of 466.9 million, The Hunger Games is definitely the over performer of the year thus far.

American Reunion opened in 4th with $19.8 million from 28 territories, which is a good number considering previous American Pie films have never been phenomenal internationally. American Pie (1999) took $132.9 million, American Pie 2 (2001) $142.5 million, while American Wedding (2003) was a series low with $126.9 million. American Reunion seems headed for $150 million or more internationally. Currently the film sits at $45.3 million worldwide, disappointing, but it could bounce back. I expect this to ultimately finish above $200 million worldwide, so a 5th theatrical entry is not out of the question yet.

Rounding out the top 5, Mirror Mirror made $18 million from 41 countries for an international total of around $40 million. Worldwide the Snow White retelling is at $80 million which is $5 million lower than its reported production budget, still a long way from profitability.

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Thanks to an underperforming American Reunion and a less than stellar Titanic 3D, The Hunger Games took 1st place again, making this its 3rd consecutive win. The last film to do something like this was, interesting enough, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 back in November-December last year.

But, mind you, Breaking Dawn Part 1 had $246.9 million after 17 days (or 3 weekends) while The Hunger Games, after taking in another $33.1 million this past weekend, has a total of $302.4 million, quite a hefty difference there. Also that makes The Hunger Games the 6th fastest film to ever reach $300 million in North America, but more on that here.

In 2nd place we have newcomer American Reunion, the 4th theater-released entry in the now rather old American Pie franchise. American Reunion grossed a disappointing $21.5 million on its opening weekend. To put this number in perspective, the original American Pie (1999) took $18.7 million during its first weekend while the subsequent sequels had $45.1 million (American Pie 2, 2001) and $33.3 million (American Wedding, 2003). So after a 9 year hiatus (at least in theaters, since there were a few direct-to-video spin-offs made in that time), this series seems to have lost a lot of steam. A bit unfortunate since this is actually a pretty good comedy (speaking as a long-time fan). American Pie finished with $102.5 million in North America, the first sequel made $145.1 million while American Wedding had $104.5 million. Based on those numbers, American Reunion is headed for $60-70 million at best.

The 3D re-release of Titanic was 3rd with $17.2 million, a number some might find small considering this was after all the highest grossing film of all time for 12 years. Well, actually Titanic 3D started rolling on Wednesday so it has made $25.6 million so far in 5 days. Now Titanic (1997) opened with $28.6 million during its original release and had $40.2 million after 5 days. A good 14 years of inflation and overpriced 3D tickets were not enough for Titanic 3D to at least match those numbers. So a possible return to the top (and by that I mean highest grosser of all time) is, for lack of a better word, impossible. Right now Titanic has a total of $626.4 million while Avatar is at $760.5 million, so basically the James Cameron drama needs another $134.1 million to beat the James Cameron sci-fi. Man, it must be tough being James Cameron.

4th is holdover Wrath of the Titans in its 2nd weekend with $14.7 million and a 56% drop, that percentage being about the only thing Wrath has on par with Clash of the Titans. After 10 days Wrath of the Titans has made $58.6 million while Clash of the Titans was at $110.2 million. This is now the 2nd massive underperforming sequel for Warner Bros. in the last 5 months after Happy Feet 2 failed to even match 1/3 of the original’s total.

Finally, rounding out the top 5 was Mirror Mirror with $11 million. That brings the Snow White story to $36.7 million total after 10 days. Universal will be hoping their version, Snow White and the Huntsman, performs a lot better this summer.

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A week ago we looked at the highest 10-day grossers of all time, now I bring you sort of a sequel to that list, the top 10 fastest films to ever reach $300 million in North America. Now as is with most sequels, there might be more than a few similarities, after all, sequels come from a lack of original ideas, right? But you’ll notice a few changes like, for example, the complete absence of a certain web crawler that was featured twice last time around. And yes, The Hunger Games has a spot on this top 10.

10. Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011) – This took 19 days to reach $302.8 million and ended up with $352.3 million. Interestingly, Dark of the Moon just barely missed the last top 10 with $223.3 million in 10 days ($225.1 million was the number for 10th place).

9. Toy Story 3 (2010) – The 3rd entry in the Pixar animated series needed 18 days to get to $301.8 million. That’s like 3 weekends and a day, very impressive and hopefully, when Toy Story 4 comes out (and as long as it’s just as good), it will get there faster. Toy Story 3 finished with $415 million.

8. Shrek 2 (2004) – Another film that wasn’t in my last top 10, Shrek 2 made it to $300 million in 18 days but unlike Toy Story 3, it got there with $302.6 million. Box office wise, this was the highpoint of the franchise with a total of $441.2 million.

7. Star Wars: Episode 3 – Revenge of the Sith (2005) – 17 days to reach $300.3 million and it ended up with $380.2 million. While this is the fastest in the series to reach that mark, it’s only 3rd when taking into account the overall totals (if we don’t include re-releases, it’s 2nd after Phantom Menace).

6. The Hunger Games (2012) – The newest film on this list, it got here in 17 days with $302.4 million. Since every single film found here ended up with at least $350 million, it’s safe to say The Hunger Games should at the very least match that number at the end of its run.

5. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) – 16 days with $311.3 million and this one finished with $423.3 million. It remains by far the highest grossing film in the franchise.

4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011) – The last Harry Potter adventure needed 15 days to hit $303 million and finished with $381 million. This was only the 3rd Potter film to pass $300 million and it got there much faster than The Philosopher’s Stone (52 days) and Half-Blood Prince (77 days).

3. Avatar (2009) – The current highest grossing film of all time got to $308.8 million in 15 days and didn’t stop before $749.7 million (during its initial run). What’s more surprising than the success of this film is the fact we doubted James Cameron again, just like we did when Titanic was on the verge of release. While I don’t think Avatar 2 will match the total of the original, it should reach $300 million much faster.

2. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) – Here stands probably the most hated film on this top 10. Trashed by everyone, Revenge of the Fallen still managed to hit $305.5 million in just 14 days and was out of juice at $402.1 million, where it stopped.

1. The Dark Knight (2008) – Batman got to $313.7 million in only 10 days, absolutely trashing every gross speed record by a wide margin. The film went on to a $533.3 million total, making it (at the time) only the 2nd film to ever pass the $500 million mark. This summer The Dark Knight Rises has a lot to live up to and I’m hoping it can deliver.

A few last words are supposed to come here and since I’m all out of ideas, I’ll finish this in a very factual way while trying to maintain my serious face in the process. You see, only 37 films have made it past $300 million in North America and while The Dark Knight was the fastest (10 days, in case you skipped to the end, cheater), Forest Gump came in last place (193 days). Also for the Lord of the Rings fans out there (I’m one) that might be wondering why there’s no film from the trilogy on here, well, they were a few years ago. Now Return of the King is the highest of the franchise in 14th with 24 days to hit 300 million.

I promise I’ll do a fastest to $400 million top 10 as soon as we have a new film reach that mark. What film you think will be the next to make $400 million?

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