Pretty Sure The Sequel Is Being Greenlighted As We Speak

Hulk SMASH puny domestic box office records.

"The Avengers" have conquered America -- for one weekend, at least.

The superhero smorgasbord featuring Captain America, Iron Man, Thor and The Hulk brought in $200.3 million its opening weekend in 4,300 U.S. theaters, smashing the previous domestic record for any movie's first three days, Walt Disney Studios said Sunday in a news release.

While "The Avengers" was predicted to be a hit, the performance outpaced expectations. Box Office Mojo, for instance, had projected the film would pull in $172.5 million on its opening weekend.

Its ultimate domestic haul is well ahead of the $168 million "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2" conjured up in its opening weekend domestically in July.

Both Bon and I saw this one over the weekend, and I can say without a doubt it's the best of the Marvel films so far.  Bon loved it too, her nephew went nuts.  Smartly written, expertly paced, sufficiently epic and Joss Whedon runs the show like a well-oiled machine.  Iron Man gets the best lines, but Hulk steals the movie.  Thor has his moments too, and amazingly enough we even get to see Captain America's human side on more than one occasion.  The crowd cheered several scenes...especially the one between Loki and Hulk in Stark Tower, and that's all I'm going to say.  I may even catch it again, it's that good of a time.  It's everything we expected from a Joss Whedon helmed Avengers flick, and those expectations were met, even as high as they were.

After the disappointing John Carter (which bombed so badly it cost Disney studio chief Rich Ross to fall on his plasma sword) it's good to see that the box office is back, and it's back BIG TIME.  

Oh, and stick around for the credits.  All of them.  Trust me on this.