The Avengers cracks billion dollar landmark at box office

It was likely inevitable, but impressive nonetheless. Joss Whedon‘s Marvel team-up flick The Avengers has grossed more than one billion dollars at the box office.

It joins an elite club of only twelve films, and marks Disney’s fifth billion-dollar hit. No other studio has more than two entries in the same club.

According to Box Office Mojo, after only three weeks of international release, The Avengers is the eleventh highest grossing film of all time worldwide. It has pipped The Dark Knight as the most successful superhero film.

Ahead of The Avengers, and likely to be surpassed in the coming weeks: Alice in Wonderland ($1.024bil), Star Wars Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace ($1.026bil), Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides ($1.043bil), Toy Story 3 ($1.063bil), and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest ($1.066bil).

Perhaps just out of reach are the five biggest movies: titleholder Avatar ($2.782 bil), Titanic ($2.183bil), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 ($1.328bil), Transformers: Dark of the Moon ($1.123bil), and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King ($1.119bil).

Discuss: Glad to see The Avengers become such a juggernaut?