Marvel Avengers set to smash box-office records

Disney's new superhero film Marvel Avengers Assemble is on course to smash global cinema box-office records by grossing $1bn (£625 m) in just 19 days. The film has brought in over £40m in the UK, meaning that it could soon match last year's top-seller, The King's Speech, which generated £45m.

Marvel Avengers Assemble, which stars Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson and Samuel L Jackson, has already broken a string of records and enjoyed the biggest opening weekend of all time in 12 countries, including Brazil and New Zealand.

The film, the first in a planned series based on The Avengers comic strip, is the first produced under the Marvel Studios franchise to generate $1bn since Disney bought the company for $4bn in 2009.