From BOM on TA's uber-success:
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=3435&p=.htm
The 2012 Summer movie season officially gets underway this weekend with what is easily one of the biggest releases of the year. After five movies that in many ways functioned as prequel material, some of Marvel's most-popular superheroes finally team up in
The Avengers, which has the
seventh-widest opening ever at 4,349 locations. Thanks to these lead-in movies and a killer marketing campaign, anticipation has reached nearly-unprecedented levels, and
The Avengers is a lock to score one of the highest opening weekends of all-time.
While the notion of a superhero team-up is fairly common in comic books, it's been a difficult thing to arrange on the big screen. DC Comics has tried for many years to assemble Batman, Superman, and a handful of other characters in a
Justice League movie, but that has had numerous false starts and is currently on the backburner. Considering none of the characters had ever had a very successful big-screen incarnation, the prospects for Marvel's
The Avengers didn't seem much better.
That all changed in May 2008. Long thought of as a second-tier comic book character,
Iron Man surprised many when it opened to $98.6 million. Thanks to strong word-of-mouth (due in no small part to
Robert Downey, Jr.'s charismatic lead performance), the movie went on to earn $318.4 million, which at the time made it the highest-grossing
comic book adaptation that didn't involve
Spider-Man.
Iron Man's extraordinary success made
The Avengers a viable option, and even after
The Incredible Hulk earned an underwhelming $134.8 million, Marvel still moved ahead with bringing the other elements of the franchise to life. Though it was a bit of a creative disappointment, the
sequel to
Iron Man earned $312.4 million in 2010, and then last year
Thor and
Captain America: The First Avenger scored a fine $181 million and $176.6 million, respectively.
Aside from actually making money,
these five Marvel movies have served as the most elaborate and expensive marketing campaign of all-time. That alone is enough to get fanboys all hot-and-bothered for The Avengers, and Disney's marketing team has done a fantastic job making this a must-see for general audiences as well. Previews establish the movie's high stakes and extraordinary nature by showing that a global threat has forced this dysfunctional team of superheroes together. They also pack in plenty of conflict, comedy (mostly from Downey, Jr.), and tons of outrageous action. Also, while it probably doesn't matter too much for a movie of this size, more discerning audiences may be swayed by a strong 92 percent fresh rating on review aggregator
Rotten Tomatoes.
Note that BOM mentions the previus 5 Marvel movies as being the most elaborate marketing campaign of all time. This is eexactly why WB can't nw rush headlong into a JL film. If it disappoints then DC properties at WB will be on hold for a long time to come.
I'd like to see it.
t:
