[Smithy]

The Avengers has easily secured the number one spot at the US box office during its opening weekend.

The Marvel superhero blockbuster, which features an all-star cast including Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Robert Downey Jr and Chris Evans, dominated with a whopping $200.3 million.


The film is now the fastest to reach the $200 million mark domestically in three days, and studio estimates predict that it will become the highest-grossing debut of all time. Earnings of $80m on Friday gave it the second-highest single day take of all time, with yesterday's $69m giving The Avengers the highest Saturday gross ever.

It is now said to have earned a worldwide box office total of $600m after only 12 days on release.

Falling into second place was Think Like a Man, which brought in another $8 million.

The Hunger Games and The Lucky One held onto their places in the third and fourth spots, bringing in $5.7m and $5.5m, respectively.

Aardman Animation's comedy The Pirates! Band of Misfits fell three places this week, coming in fifth with $5.4 m, just ahead of the Emily Blunt and Jason Segel romcom The Five-Year Engagement, which slipped one spot into number six with $5.1m.

Holding onto the seventh spot, The Raven brought in an additional $2.5m, followed by Safe and Chimpanzee, both of which fell several spots, bringing in $2.5m and $2.4m each.

Finally, rounding off the top ten was The Three Stooges, which moved down a slot this week, bringing in $1.8m.

The US box office top ten in full (studio estimates):

1. (-) The Avengers - $200,300,000
2. (1) Think Like a Man - $8,000,000
3. (3) The Hunger Games - $5,700,000
4. (4) The Lucky One - $5,510,000
5. (2) The Pirates! Band of Misfits - $5,400,000
6. (5) The Five-Year Engagement - $5,100,00
7. (7) The Raven - $2,508,000
8. (6) Safe - $2,470,000
9. (8) Chimpanzee - $2,395,000
10. (9) The Three Stooges - $1,800,000