Soon, there will be no debate as to what's the No. 1 comic-book movie of all-time—as far as the box office goes.
After the four-day, Memorial Day holiday weekend, The Avengers stands as the fourth-highest-grossing movie ever domestically.
And it's about to step on another hero's cape.
Perhaps as soon as Thursday The Avengers will leap over The Dark Knight and become the top-grossing comic-book movie ever, and Hollywood's third-biggest film of all time.
As things stand now, The Avengers is at an estimated $523.6 million domestically, per its studio; The Dark Knight is out ahead by just about $10 million.
The Avengers broke the $500 million barrier on Saturday.
It is the fourth movie ever to accomplish that feat; it is the fastest film to hit the mark, needing just 23 days.
The Dark Knight, by comparison, reached $500 million on its 45th day in theaters; Avatar, the all-time box-office champ, in 32 days.
If The Avengers performs like The Dark Knight did after the Batman movie's 23-day mark, then it'll be powerful enough to put another $100 million in the bank, and rival Titanic for the No. 2 spot on the all-time list.
And if the Marvel superhero movie performs like Avatar, then it'll have $335 million left in the tank, and the potential to make more history.
But as big and fast as The Avengers is, it's simply not performing like the James Cameron phenomenon, which barely dipped from weekend to weekend.
Here's a rundown of the five top-grossing movies of all-time, domestically, per the latest estimates from BoxOfficeMojo.com stats:
- Avatar, $760.5 million
- Titanic, $658.5 million
- The Dark Knight, $533.3 million
- The Avengers, $523.6 million
- Star Wars: Episode I—The Phantom Menace, $474.5 million