Disney's The Avengers has posted the second biggest opening day at the Australian box office in history.
The film, which brings together several Marvel characters featured in recent blockbusters including Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans) and The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), grossed $6,003,882. That result places it second only to the final film in the Harry Potter series – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.
The film is only released in the US on May 4 but other overseas territories are already reporting strong box office results such as France ($US3 million), Philippines ($US1.3 million), Taiwan ($US1.2 million) and New Zealand ($US800,000).
The Avengers is the first Marvel film to be released by Disney after the end of its previous distribution relationship with Paramount.