Avatar becomes 2009’s No. 1 domestic hit
LOS ANGELES — James Cameron’s Avatar continues to race up the box office charts, remaining No. 1 domestically for the fourth straight weekend with $48.5 million and placing second among all-time top-grossing films worldwide.
The science-fiction saga from 20th Century Fox added $143 million overseas to raise its international haul to $906 million. With $429 million domestically, Avatar has pulled in $1.34 billion worldwide, behind only Cameron’s Titanic, which took in $1.8 billion.
In just 24 days, Avatar shot past the $402.1 million domestic total of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen to become the No. 1 release of 2009. Cameron’s tale of humans and aliens in conflict on a distant world now stands at No. 6 on the all-time domestic chart.
The film has just over $100 million to go to pass the No. 2 domestic hit, The Dark Knight at $533.3 million. “I think we’ll get there very soon,” said Bert Livingston, 20th Century Fox distribution executive.
“I believe anything is possible with this picture. Nothing would surprise me. There’s a still a long way to go, and it’s going to keep on playing and playing.”
The No. 2 and No. 3 box office draws remained unchanged from the previous weekend, with the Warner Bros. hit Sherlock Holmes in second place at $16.6 million and 20th Century Fox’s Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel in third at $16.3 million. Sherlock Holmes raised its domestic take to $165.2 million, and Alvin and the Chipmunks lifted its total to $178.2 million.
Among new movies, Lionsgate’s vampire thriller Daybreakers had the best premiere, coming in at No. 4 with $15 million.
Daybreakers stars Ethan Hawke as a reluctant vampire racing to find a substitute for human blood in a world overrun by the undead in the near future.
Universal’s romantic comedy Leap Year opened at No. 5 with $9.2 million. The movie stars Amy Adams as a woman who finds love in an unexpected place as she chases across Ireland to propose to her boyfriend.
The Weinstein Co. comedy Youth in Revolt, debuted at No. 9 with $7 million. The film features Michael Cera as a teen going to extremes to win the heart of his dream girl.
Hollywood’s box office roll has lingered in 2010. Overall domestic revenues came in at $156 million, up 6.6 per cent from the same weekend last year, when Gran Torino led with $29.5 million, according to box office tracker Hollywood.com. It was the eight-straight weekend of rising ticket sales.
Hollywood put up record revenue of $10.6 billion domestically in 2009, easily surpassing the previous high of $9.7 billion in 2007.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theatres, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.
1. Avatar, $48.5 million.
2. Sherlock Holmes, $16.6 million.
3. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, $16.3 million.
4. Daybreakers, $15 million.
5. It’s Complicated, $11 million.
6. Leap Year, $9.2 million.
7. The Blind Side, $7.8 million.
8. Up in the Air, $7.1 million.
9. Youth in Revolt, $7 million.
10. The Princess and the Frog, $4.7 million.
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