BEIJING, May 4 (Xinhuanet) -- "The Avengers" is going to keep the 2012 U.S. box office fighting for a new record with estimates soaring past 150 million U.S. dollars, according to media reports Friday.
A three-figure domestic opening will put "Avengers" in rare company -- only 20 films have ever crossed the 100 million dollars opening threshold domestically, including the all-time record holder "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2," with 169.2 million dollars.
The marvel superhero mash-up, which cost an estimated 220 million dollars to produce, may have close to 600 million dollars worldwide by weekend's end.
In just eight days of release, "Avengers" has collected more than the total international take of "Captain America,""Iron Man"and"Thor."
The film, whose A-list stars include Robert Downey Jr.and Scarlett Johansson, centers around an international peace-keeping crew of Iron Man, the Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow.
It had a 93 percent fresh rating from the online review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes, according to Los Angeles Times reports.
The movie premiered internationally before it hit domestic shores. Disney launched the film a week before the U.S. in 39 international territories, with China and Russia set to go this weekend. Japan is dated for August.
Domestically, "Avengers" bows at 4,349 locations -- the seventh-largest Stateside bow ever ("Twilight: Eclipse" still is No. 1 at 4,468). "Avengers" also has 3,364 3D locations, including 275 digital-only Imax runs