'The Avengers' Sets Marvel Pre-Sale Record

We knew Marvel's "The Avengers" would draw a massive gross upon its May 4 opening. It was clear it would probably be among the summer's two or three biggest hits, possibly rivaled only by "The Dark Knight Rises" and "The Amazing Spider-Man".

This, though? Insane.

Superhero Hype reports today that pre-release ticket sales have outgrossed those of nearly all previous Marvel Studios productions....

....Combined. The gross has already exceeded one and a half times those of previous features' combined presales by the same point before hitting theaters.

To put sales into perspective initially, the big team-up has eclipsed last summer's "Captain America: The First Avenger" by 3,995 percent. It's made 1,034 percent more than "Thor". It's outpaced the Marvel Studios debut "Iron Man" by 1,406 percent. It's only outstripped "Iron Man 2" by 114 percent. A reported 56 percent of sales have come from 3D sales, and 37 percent from IMAX 3D tickets.

Strangely, Superhero Hype didn't address where "The Avengers" pre-release sales numbers sit in relation to "The Incredible Hulk". Perhaps the blog set that one aside since Mark Ruffalo has replaced Edward Norton as Bruce Banner, making Norton the only actor not to appear as a previous set-up feature's titular hero.

As an added bonus, enjoy this just-released still of all Earth's Mightiest Heroes standing tall.

The Avengers Movie Still