Box Office Milestone: ‘The Avengers’ Hits $1.5 Billion Worldwide

Ending the summer in style, Disney and Marvel Studio’s The Avengers hit $1.5 billion on Sunday, thanks to an aggressive Labor Day push.

Disney upped the film’s domestic theater count to 1,700 on Friday, timed to the long holiday weekend. The superhero tentpole, opening in early May, was virtually done with its run.

VIDEO: Behind the Scenes of Marvel’s ‘The Avengers’

Avengers was already the No. 3 film of all time behind Titanic ($2.2 billion) and Avatar ($2.8 billion), both from filmmaker James Cameron.

Joss Whedon directed Avengers, which grossed $1.7 million for the weekend for a new domestic total of $619.5 million. Overseas, the pic’s cume is now $874 million.

Avengers stars Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk, Chris Evans as Captain America and Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow.