Marvel’s movie strategy has paid off, with the film of The Avengers raking in huge box office receipts around the world.

According to official estimates, The Avengers will smash the previous single weekend box office take of $169m held by the Harry Potter finale, on course for over $200m. International gross is over $450m – before the film has even opened in Japan. IMAX cinemas in the States were reporting that they were sold out of seats for the weekend’s showings.

The film has been generally very well-received critically, the New York Times being a notable exception, prompting a Twitter fury from Nick Fury actor Samuel L. Jackson. Read our review here.