To return to the topic at hand, it looks as if my prediction of $1.1 billion WW for The Avengers was less of a pipe dream than many in this thread claimed. When I posted that I wasn't just whistling in the dark. Traveling the Internet I have watched interest in this movie build to a fever pitch among an audience segment (women and young girls) that has driven surprise blockbusters like THG and Twilight to huge box office numbers. That was enough to tell me that The Avengers was poised on the verge of becoming a true phenomenon. While I knew that poor marketing, a bad trailer or, worse yet, a film that failed to deliver on its promise could deflate that ballooning interest in a heartbeat, I felt very confident of my seemingly over the top prediction.
We still have to await the final tally, but so far The Avengers is looking good to hit the billion-dollar benchmark.