LOS ANGELES, USA (AP) — The Avengers is taking a page out of Superman’s comic book — flying faster than a speeding bullet to the billion-dollar mark at the box office.

The superhero blockbuster took in US$103.2 million to lead for a second-straight weekend, raising its domestic total to US$373.2 million, according to studio estimates yesterday.

With US$95.4 million more overseas, The Avengers lifted its international receipts to US$628.9 million and a worldwide haul of just over US$1 billion, only 19 days after it began rolling out in some markets.

“You never think that it can happen this quickly,” said Dave Hollis, head of distribution for Disney, whose Marvel Studios unit produced the ensemble film after a long build-up in its solo superhero outings.

“You hope you can get to this day, and the fact that it is happening this early is a testament to a lot of work that went in on the Marvel side over the last six years to get us to a place where people wanted to see the Avengers assemble.”

The Avengers easily fended off Johnny Depp and Tim Burton’s vampire romp Dark Shadows, which had a so-so domestic start of US$28.8 million to finish a distant No 2.