How Big is ‘The Avengers’ Opening Day?

Box office reporting has changed drastically over the last twenty years. Where in the 1990's, you might have heard about the numbers by Monday - at the earliest - we now get reports on grosses before a day's even through. And the studios are estimating that 'The Avengers' is going to open to around $65 million.

This comes from Variety, though Deadline Hollywood and The Hollywood Reporter have announced similar numbers. Of course there will be no egg on anyone's faces if they're horribly wrong, because there's no accountability when it comes to this stuff. Just saying.

If the $65 million does hold that would put the film in the top ten single days of all time. Number seven is 'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" with $62 million while 'The Dark Knight' is at number six with $67 million. This though would be less than 'The Hunger Games' $67.3 Million, which means that 'Avengers' may not hit $400 million domestic.

But at this point, who flipping cares? The film is already over $300 Million internationally, so if it does as low as $140 million domestically (which would be the absolute lowest) this weekend, the film should be in profit by Sunday. That is, if the film's $220 million budget is to be believed and the two to one ratio for profitability is correct. Most studios get higher percentages out of the gate (though many have gone to aggregate deals), so it may be even more profitable than simply breaking even. On opening weekend. Hello cash. Which points out the strangeness of 'Captain America 2' having an April release date.

What this also means is that 'The Avengers' won't be breaking any records, unless the Saturday numbers show a significant boost. The single day record is $91 million, and the weekend high is $169 - both held by the final 'Harry Potter' film. 'Avengers' also didn't break any midnight records either with its $18.7 Million. Oh well, it's just going to have to settle for being one of the most successful films of all time without beating any records. So sad.