Box Office Report: 'Avengers' Could Pass Final 'Harry Potter' Pic For Third Biggest Ever

1:03 PM PDT 5/13/2012 by Pamela McClintock

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Marvel

The superhero tentpole hit $1 billion on Sunday and will shortly eclipse the $1.12 billion earned by "Transformers: Dark of the Moon," the No. 4 grossing title of all time.

Joss Whedon's The Avengers has broken so many records it's hard to keep count.

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The biggest one could be yet to come -- the Disney and Marvel Studios' film could match or overtake Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 to become the third biggest grossing movie in history behind Avatar ($2.8 billion) and Titanic ($2.2 billion), both from James Cameron.

On Sunday -- only its 19th day in release -- Avengers hit $1 billion in global ticket sales, matching Avatar and Deathly Hallows 2 in terms of speed. That includes a domestic total of $373.2 million and an international cume of $628.9 million. Already, the event pic is the No. 11 top grossing title of all time, edging past The Dark Knight.

Deathly Hallows 2 grossed $1.32 billion in global ticket sales, and some box office observers believe Avengers is destined to reach $1.35 billion to $1.4 billion. Whatever the case, Avengers is now assured of shortly eclipsing the $1.12 billion earned by Transformers: Dark of the Moon to become the No. 4 grossing title of all time at the worldwide box office.

Avengers dropped a mere 50.3 percent in its second weekend at the domestic box office, grossing a whopping $103.2 million to become the first movie ever to hit $100 million in its second outing. It is holding up equally as well -- if not better -- overseas, where it opened just over two weeks ago. And Avengers doesn't open in Japan until August.

Much could depend upon how well upcoming releases The Dictator, Battleship and Men in Black 3 perform.

Among other achievements, Avengers will be the first superhero title to crack the current top 10 list of biggest grossing films. It also scored the biggest opening ever at the domestic box office ($207.4 million) and is the fastest title to hit $300 million. Overseas, it scored the biggest opening weekends of all time in numerous territories including Mexico, Brazil and Hong Kong.