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'The Avengers' sets weekend record. Is there a message for the industry?

Hollywood is welcoming the success of 'The Avengers' 鈥� a formula blockbuster with a simple good-vs.-evil story line 鈥� but industry analysts aren't ready to draw too many conclusions.

After last year鈥檚 worst-since-1995 box office for the movie industry, the record-setting opening this weekend for 鈥淭he Avengers鈥� 鈥� $200.3 million at theaters in the US and Canada 鈥� was welcome news for the industry, suggesting a strong turnaround heading into the summer season.

Does the initial success of this formula blockbuster, which also flipped the conventional pattern of opening first in the United States and then globally, portend any emerging trend in Hollywood offerings for moviegoers in the foreseeable future?

For sure, 鈥淭he Avengers鈥� promises to be a huge plus for Disney, which had been financially tottering of late after the huge disappointment of John Carter, another all-star extravaganza, and has put them on solid financial ground, possibly for years.

But it鈥檚 not yet clear whether 鈥淭he Avengers鈥� success in opening first overseas 鈥� it garnered $441 million last week 鈥� is a harbinger for more simple, good-vs.-evil story lines that translate easily to different cultures and languages.

鈥淥pening overseas is a growing trend and part of an important one in understanding 鈥淭he Avengers鈥� phenomenon 鈥� in an era of globalization, international markets are more important than ever,鈥� says Peter Lehman, director of the Center for Film, Media and Popular Culture at Arizona State University. 鈥淏ut based upon film history,鈥� he says vie e-mail, 鈥淚 would caution that we should be careful about predicting the future based upon the success of any single film. Many Hollywood action films will open overseas and not be blockbusters or even big hits.鈥�

Chris Lanier, owner of Motion Picture Intelligencer, a cinema consulting service, also cautions it鈥檚 important to weigh box office next to what was spent on a movie, noting that the film reportedly cost $200 million to make.

鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 mean you鈥檝e become profitable because you鈥檝e come out of the gate fast,鈥� he says, adding that 52 percent of the three-day opening resulted from higher-priced IMAX and 3D tickets. 鈥淭his is a movie in which much can be discerned only by waiting,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not even to the first turn yet. It鈥檚 too early to go out and buy stock.鈥�

With those caveats out, industry analysts do seem ready to uncork the bubbly.

鈥淚鈥檓 really excited that this is giving a huge boost to the summer season, just ahead,鈥� says Paul Dergarabedian, head box office analyst for Hollywood.com. Rattling off a string of potential blockbusters that include 鈥�Dark Shadows,鈥� 鈥淏attleship,鈥� 鈥�Men in Black 3鈥� 聽鈥�Madagascar 2,鈥� 鈥�Ice Age鈥� and 鈥淭he Amazing Spiderman,鈥� he says 鈥渢his alignment is as rare as a 100-year flood.鈥�

Other analysts say the success of 鈥淭he Avengers鈥� has several earmarks of our times, when the really appealing, cross-generational movies are often related to cartoons, more than the real-life-based events of past family-genre must-sees like 鈥淟awrence of Arabia,鈥� 鈥淧atton,鈥� and 鈥�Gone with the Wind.鈥�

鈥淭he Avengers聽is doing huge box-office because it operates as myth,鈥� says Dr. Ben Agger, director of the Sociology Department鈥檚 Center for Theory at the University of Texas, Arlington. 鈥淎 heterogeneous group of superheroes save the world from聽an alien Other.聽We want someone larger than life to make us safe.聽In dangerous times, the Hulk and his buddies are more benevolent than any government.鈥�

Bradley Ricca, a SAGES Fellow at Case Western Reserve University who teaches classes on comic books and popular culture, thinks 鈥渢he real message of 鈥楾he Avengers鈥� to foreign audiences is really anything but simple.鈥�

鈥淚f anything, Avengers is sort of a second-generation 9/11 movie. The aliens attack, but it is ... a rich capitalist, a Norse god, a Russian spy, an American black ops assassin, a lost scientist, and a World War II-era hero who defend New York (and by extension, the world), not the US government,鈥� he says.

鈥淚n fact, just as it seems that all hope is lost, the shadowy 'Council' 聽launches a nuclear strike on Midtown,鈥� he continues. 鈥淭hus, some foreign (and even domestic) audiences can simultaneously root against a cruel, authoritative government, while at the same time keep on rooting for 鈥楾he Avengers鈥� as they push back invaders with unpronounceable names who are led by a pagan god.鈥�