record breaking movies

The Avengers' record-breaking opening weekend: By the numbers

Iron Man and his superhero pals score an eye-popping $200 million debut, obliterating the old record set by last year's Harry Potter finale

"The Avengers" accounted for a whopping 80 percent of all movie revenue at the box office this weekend.Photo: Facebook/AvengersSEE ALL 24 PHOTOS

It took a prickly crew of superheroes to topple the record for the biggest domestic box-office opening of all-time. Marvel's The Avengers, uniting Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, The Hulk, and more, raked in $200.3 million in North America, clobbering the previous opening weekend record set by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 last year. A look at how that historic haul breaks down:

$200.3 millionThe Avengers' opening weekend box-office total in North America, a new record

$169.2 millionThe previous record, set by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

25.6 millionTickets sold to The Avengers over the weekend

4,349North American locations that screened The Avengers

$80.5 millionThe Avengers' gross on Friday, its first full day of release. That's the second-highest opening day ever, behind only the Harry Potter finale's $91.1 million.

52Percentage of moviegoers who saw The Avengers in 3D. Higher ticket prices for 3D showings inevitably contributed to The Avengers' impressive gross, says Amy Kaufman at the Los Angeles Times.

50Percentage of Avengers audience members under the age of 25

60Percentage of Avengers audience members who are male. The film "scored a direct hit on that summer-season sweet spot: The young fanboy demographic," says Jen Chaney at The Washington Post.

93Percentage of critics who gave The Avengers a positive "fresh" rating on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes

A+Average grade assigned by moviegoers after screenings, according to market research firm CinemaScore. Such positive word of mouth suggests that The Avengers could join the billion-dollar club at the worldwide box office, says Kaufman.

11Films in the elite billion-dollar club, including Avatar and Titanic

$641.8 millionTotal worldwide gross of The Avengers so far. The film was released in most international markets a week before its U.S. premiere.

$220 millionReported amount Marvel and Disney spent to produce The Avengers  

$100 millionReported amount the studios spent on global marketing

80Percentage of the weekend's domestic box office haul accounted for by The Avengers 

$130.7 millionCombined domestic opening weekend gross of last summer's twoAvengers-related superhero flicks: Thor ($65.7 million) and Captain America ($65 million). "When Marvel superheroes combine forces, they can not only achieve swift justice but also a much stronger immediate cash flow,"