The Avengers Breaks US Box Office Record

Superhero film The Avengers has broken box office records in its opening weekend in the US.

The Marvel ensemble movie took $200m (£123m) following its release in North America on Friday, according to early figures.

It smashes the previous box office record held by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2.

The final film in the wizard franchise made $169.2m (£104m) when it was released last July.

Marvel Avengers Assemble features not one, but five superheroes.

Captain America, Black Widow, Thor, Iron Man and the Incredible Hulk join forces to help save the Earth from evil Loki and his army.

Directed by Joss Whedon, it features an all-star cast including Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johansson and Samuel L Jackson.

Made by Disney, the film has earned more than $641m (£396m) since it opened internationally on April 25.

In response to the figures, Dave Hollis, Disney's head of distribution, said: "There aren't even words, to be honest.

"I'm running low on double takes. Every time we looked at a number, it just got bigger than what we could have hoped for in the best-case assumption.

"With this film, this weekend, anything is possible."

Other movies in the top five biggest openers include The Dark Knight and Spiderman 3.

Both superheroes will be return to the big screen this summer.