'The Avengers' smashes UAE records

Marvel comic book adaptation “The Avengers” continues to smash away competition to reign supreme at the global box office since its May 3 release, garnering over Dh10.6 million across UAE cinemas alone in its first five days.

The figure was confirmed by local distributors, Italia Films, with the Disney Studio release recording 236,809 admissions during its five-day run since release, where it was shown across 93 screens, including 2D, 3D and IMAX.

Speaking to Emirates 24|7, General Manager of Italia Films stated: “‘The Avengers’ has earned Dh10.608m in its first five days, breaking the record of ‘Mission Impossible 4’ in gross box office terms.

“If we go by admissions, “MI4” is still number one, with “The Avengers” ranking number two with 236,809 fans watching the film since its May 3 release.”

“The Avengers’” had no other contender at the top of the ranks in the UAE, with the runner up being the Bollywood action flick, “Jannat 2” according to Boxofficemojo.com.

Released by Fox, the Emraan Hashmi starrer came in with collections of $243,511 or Dh894,902.

Chahine added: “What has also worked in the film’s favour in the UAE is its early release in key markets such as India and the Philippines, where ‘The Avengers’ was showcased a week earlier before the US.

“The word of mouth publicity in those respective countries created a buzz with their large expat population here and had many lining up to catch the film.”

Meanwhile, up to date, the Joss Whedon-directed Marvel film has earned Dh2.58 billion worldwide, with some markets still to open later this summer, such as Japan.

Estimated to have been filmed at a production budget of $220m, the action film, which stars Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johannson, Chris Evans, amongst others, has also had major openings in Russia and China, where it took first place with $17.9 million and $17.4 million, respectively.

Including Monday, the highest-grossing territories for “The Avengers” are the United Kingdom ($54m), Mexico ($40.7m) and Brazil ($33.9m).

Said Chahine: “It is no surprise the film is having this phenomenal run globally, considering Marvel has been laying the foundation for “The Avengers” over five years, with the closing of “Iron Man”, “Thor”, “The Incredible Hulk” and “Captain America”, all showing a teaser of what was to come.”

Meanwhile fans are already excited as Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed to news media that a sequel to the film is already in the works.

Iger also revealed that Disney theme parks would make room for The Avengers very soon.

And if you are wondering what “The Avengers 2” has in store, then you need to stay until the first one’s closing credits, which reveals a snippet of Thanos, the inter galactic villain who hacks up a few Avengers in the comic books.

“The sequel has yet another three years to hit our screens, but we are confident that it would be an even bigger success,” said Chahine, adding: “The reason for this are the further teasers that will surely make their way into “Iron Man 3”, “Thor 2” and “Hulk 4”, as they gear up for release in the coming years.”

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