'The Avengers' Makes Labor Day Weekend Comeback

Miss the first record-decimating theater tour of Marvel's "The Avengers" this summer? Well, it sure has sucked to be us who did. Lucky us, Marvel and Disney thought highly of the idea of one last run at more box-office history.

Labor Day weekend, writer-director Joss Whedon's opus superhero team-up takes a theatrical victory lap before hitting DVD and Blu-ray Sept. 25 with a theatrical expansion to a total 1,700 theaters, Deadline reported Thursday.

Already grossing more than $1.5 billion after 18 weeks in release, "The Avengers" will have to hold onto that many screens throughout the remainder of 2012 in order for it to stand a puncher's chance to approaching James Cameron's respective highest and second-highest grossing films of all time, "Avatar" and "Titanic." Both pictures eclipsed a total $2 billion worldwide.

Take also into consideration that Disney paid a scant $4 billion to purchase Marvel in 2011. By the time this expansion has run its course, with a sequel already in the works and a "S.H.I.E.L.D." television off-shoot already announced for ABC, this one film alone will have put Marvel's earnings more than halfway to recouping the purchase price after a mere year with "Iron Man 3" and "Thor: The Dark World" to come in 2013.

At this rate, given Marvel's universal cross-media appeal and merchandising juice, this single acquisition looks to exceed even the purchase of ABC as Disney's most lucrative, finest hour.