It’s #1 for the 3rd straight week. Over the New Year’s holiday it took in $68.3 million domestically. And now, AVATAR has become only the 5th movie in history to ever surpass $1 billion worldwide. AVATAR opened only two weeks ago grossing $77 million, a strong start but still far below other blockbusters that debuted as high as $158 million. But while business for other blockbusters usually tumble in following weekends, AVATAR revenues actually climbed during the busy Christmas and New Year’s weekends.
“It’s like a runaway freight train. It just keeps doing business,” said Fox distribution executive Bert Livingston. “Here’s what’s happening: I think everybody has to see `Avatar’ once. Even people who don’t normally go to the movies, they’ve heard about it and are saying, `I have to see it.’ Then there’s those people seeing it multiple times.”
AVATAR was Director James Cameron’s first film since 1997’s “Titanic,” the biggest modern blockbuster with $1.8 billion worldwide. Cameron now holds the distinction of being the only filmmaker to direct two movies that have topped $1 billion. The others are “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” at $1.13 billion, “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” at $1.06 billion and “The Dark Knight” at a fraction over $1 billion, according to box-office tracker Hollywood.com.
I saw AVATAR last weekend in IMAX 3D, and I must say it was well worth the $14. cost of the ticket. In fact, I may have been a bit disappointed had I seen it in regular format instead of IMAX 3D. The action was alive, the story was poignant and touching, the special effects were breathtaking, and James Cameron once again has a mega-hit on his hands.
RUN. DO NOT WALK to see this film. You will be pleasantly surprised!
I saw it New Year's weekend and I absolutley agree_it was well worth the $6.50 I paid to see it!My cousin has NOW decided that she wants to see it after initially rejecting any such notion_lol_so I'll be seeing the movie (again) with her this weekend.