‘The Avengers’ Makes $18.7 Million Overnight, Fails to Smash Records

While 'The Avengers' is the hot ticket today, it didn't break any records overnight, making only (only?...) $18.7 million in the US box office. But hey, that's still a lot of cash!

Deadline reports that the Marvel film from writer and director Joss Whedon failed to break the record, but still made more than 'Iron Man,' 'Iron Man 2,' 'Thor,' and 'Captain America' combined in their midnight releases. It's only eighth in overall midnight screenings (after all the 'Twilight' films and 'The Hunger Games') but still number one in terms of superhero midnights.

The still reigning midnight release champion is none other than Warner Bros.' 'Harry Potters and the Deathly Hallows Part 2,' raking in a whopping $43.5 million. It's hard to compete with the wildly popular boy wizard, but 'The Avengers' still did pretty well.

And it continues to do well internationally, having opened a week earlier overseas and now grossing $281.1 million. Disney has set the film with its widest opening yet, playing at 4,349 locations in the US and Canada, with 3,364 screens in 3D.

Will you be one of the millions going to see 'The Avengers' assemble this weekend?