'Avengers' breaks records with $200M debut

Hulk, smash.

That's what Captain America tells the Incredible Hulk to do in "The Avengers," and that's what the Marvel Comics superhero mashup did at the box office, smashing the domestic revenue record with a $200.3 million debut.

It's by far the biggest opening ever, shooting past the previous record of $169.2 million for the debut of last year's "Harry Potter" finale.

"The Avengers" added $151.5 million overseas over the weekend to bring its total to $441.5 million since it began opening internationally a week earlier.

That raised the film's worldwide haul to $641.8 million in barely a week and a half, more than its Marvel superhero forerunners "Iron Man," "Iron Man 2," "Thor" and "Captain America" took in during their entire runs.

If distributor Disney's domestic estimate Sunday holds when the final weekend count is released Monday, "The Avengers" would be the first movie ever to haul in $200 million in a single weekend. The number could still dip below $200 million Monday, but Disney spent the weekend revising its forecasts upward.

Revenues held up much better than expected with $80.5 million Friday and $69.7 million Saturday, and Disney estimated that the film would bring in $50.1 million more Sunday.

The record weekend was the culmination of years of planning by Marvel Studios, which has included teasers for an "Avengers" collaboration in solo superhero films.

Directed by Joss Whedon ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer"), "The Avengers" features Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Chris Evans as Captain America, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury.

A $200 million total for all movies in release is considered a great weekend for the business, so "The Avengers" redefines the standards for a blockbuster debut.