Concerns that the combined might of Tony Stark, Cap, Thor and co. would leave international moviegoers cold - and let's be honest, there weren't too many of those - were Hulk-smashed into the middle of next week by Avengers Assemble's first takings. A week prior to its US opening, the movie took a whopping $174.8m globally.
The Marvel blockbusterended up in top spot in each of its 38 territories. Leading the way was the UK with $24.7m - or £15m for currency sticklers - since Thursday's opening. That's more than the UK lifetime gross of Captain America, Thor or Hulk, just to put that in context. And none of those were flops. In Australia it fist-punched Zac Efron's The Lucky One square on the schnoz and sank Battleship, ending up with a final haul of $19.7m, the second highest ever five-day total.
Interestingly, Avengers Assemble's debut was almost twice that of** Iron Man 2**, the biggest Avenger opener to date, leading Box Office Mojo to predict final overseas takings north of $600m.
As an interesting footnote - strange as it is to describe the biggest ever box-office smash as a footnote -** Titanic 3D **picked up an additional $12.5m in China. That's not just a small consolation for the currently embattled Rupert Murdoch, but further confirmation for Hollywood bean-counters of the financial muscle of China's moviegoers. It takes the watery blockbuster's tally there to $126.1. Still no sign of that ruddy diamond, mind.