Avengers 2 gets third biggest opening weekend of all time to topple Fast and Furious 7

The Avengers: Age of Ultron has had the third-best opening weekend of all time in Australia taking $15.7m at the box office.

Directed by Joss Whedon, the second film in Marvel’s Avengers franchise stars Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man and Australian Chris Hemsworth as Thor, and has earned $17.1m since it opened last Thursday on 760 screens.

Its first weekend’s earnings place it behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, which earned $18.364m in July 2011, and The Twilight Saga: New Moon in November 2009, which took $16.1m.