"The Avengers" Passes $600 Million in Domestic U.S. Box Office

Robert Downey Jr. arrives at the screening of the film "Marvel's The Avengers" for the closing night of the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival in New York(Photo : Reuters)

By Zanub Saeed

Marvel's "The Avengers" became the third movie in history to pass the $600 million mark in the domestic box office, which it passed on Tuesday, according to The Hollywood Reporter, and still behind James Cameron's Oscar-winning blockbusters "Titanic," and the number one movie of all time, "Avatar."

The comic-book film adaptation from Disney and Marvel Studios, directed by Joss Whedon, also holds the number three spot for international grosses of all time, behind Cameron's movies, bringing in $1.44, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Thanks to the re-release of "Titanic" this past spring, the 1997 Oscar-winning feature for Best Picture earned nearly an extra $60 million, giving it a safe distance past the $600 million point.

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"The Avengers" began to break box office records the weekend after it came out, where it surpassed the 2011 release of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2" in making the most money domestically and internationally its first three days out, bringing in $207.4 million, noted box office analyst website BoxOfficeMojo.com.

"The Avengers" overall holds 28 box office records, said BoxOfficeMojo, including opening theater average with $47,698, second weekend box office sales at $103 million, 10-day gross, and fastest feature to pass $500 million. Admittedly, "The Avengers" so far has been the fourth movie ever to pass that total.

Marvel's "The Avengers" stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Mark Ruffalo, and Tim Hiddleston as the six comic-book heroes and their nemesis, respectively. The movie follows the story of the six heroes assembling as they try to take down Hiddleston's demi-god character, Loki, as he tries to take over planet Earth.

A sequel was already confirmed for "The Avengers" right after its opening weekend box office takes were announced, though Whedon has been reluctant to confirm that he will be back to direct and write the second installment of the franchise. So far, as part of their multi-movie contracts with Marvel, Samuel L. Jackson and Ruffalo are set to return in the feature.