'Avengers 2' Box Office: 'Age Of Ultron' Breaks Thursday Night Record; Where Does Opening Rank Among All Marvel Movies? [VIDEO]

The highly anticipated “Avengers: Age of Ultron” hit theaters nationwide today, but, many eager fans already saw the movie Thursday night at midnight and preview screenings across the country. If the box office numbers from the blockbuster sequel’s Thursday release are any indication, “Age of Ultron” is headed for a record-breaking opening weekend.

“Age of Ultron” pulled in over $27.6 million in box office revenue on Thursday alone. That marks the biggest Thursday release for a Marvel Studios film of all time, almost doubling the previous high set by, well, the first “Avengers” movie in 2012. However, the total is still well shy of the all-time record set by the final “Harry Potter” movie – “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2” – in 2011 with $43.5 million. How does the success of “Age of Ultron” compare to the Thursday openings of other Marvel movies?

Below is a chart showing the Thursday release box office totals of each movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe:

Not surprisingly, sequels have fared much better at the box office than the first movies of a franchise. Even though the first “Avengers” movie, the previous record holder, was not technically a sequel, it incorporated characters that had already appeared in previous Marvel films.

2012’s “The Avengers” turned its Thursday night success into a record-setting $207.4 million opening weekend and, eventually, became the third highest grossing movie of all time with $1.5 billion in box office revenue. That means “Age of Ultron” is primed to make a pretty big splash this weekend.

Time will tell if “Age of Ultron” will become Marvel’s biggest opening weekend release of all time. The sequel even has a shot at the all-time box office record of $2.78 billion set by 209’s “Avatar.” Fans can see the movie in theaters this weekend nationwide.

See the trailer for “The Avengers: Age of Ultron” below: