Hollywood’s Top Five

The Avengers picked up $200.3 million at theatres in the US and Canada, according to an estimate by Disney

This week saw a new Hollywood record being set. The Avengers, in true superhero style, broke the record for the best opening weekend in Hollywood history—it picked up $200.3 million at theatres in the US and Canada, according to an estimate by Disney. That beat Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, which earned $169.2 million during its opening week in 2011. It has also earned more money than The Dark Knight, The Hunger Games and Spider-Man 3, all of which earned $150 million on their debut weekends. But will this luck hold, and will some film be able to top these big five?

The top earner of all time is James Cameron’s Avatar, which earned $2,782,275,172 after its release in 2009. It may not have made us think about saving the world but it did make for some magic celluloid moments. To help his actors prepare for their roles, he took the cast and crew to Hawaii, where they spent their days trekking through forests and living like tribes. Too bad it didn’t bag an Oscar. But Cameron has too much money in the bank to worry. His other blockbuster, Titanic, is second on the highest grossing list, having piled up $2,175,748,188 since 1997. A love story on an ill-fated luxury ship? It couldn’t go wrong. 

The third spot goes to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, which earned $1,328,111,219 in 2011. We all just had to see the happy ending and Voldemort finally being disposed of.

Fourth ranked is Transformers: Dark of the Moon which earned $1,123,746,996 in 2011, and number five is The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, which earned $1,119,929,521 in 2003. The Avengers had better unite. They’re still far behind.

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