The FINANCIAL — Avatar has taken out the No. 1 slot in foreign sales for the second weekend in a row.
James Cameron’s mega-budget epic raised eyebrows with its overseas boxoffice staying power, grossing $145 million — a mere 12% drop from its opening weekend — from 14,844 screens. It did well in its second week in the U.S. as well, Hollywood Reporter informs. Triple-digit opening grosses usually decline substantially in the ensuing weekend. A drop of less than 50% is considered positive by the industry. Distributor 20th Century Fox said “Avatar’s” relative miniscule decline “is even more impressive given theatre closures in many markets on Dec. 24 and/or Dec. 25.”
The film’s offshore cumulative total stands at $405 million. Worldwide tally clocks in at $617.3 million, according to the same source. Not coincidentally, Fox reported yesterday that its 2009 overseas boxoffice take set a new industry record — an estimated $2.263 billion, the highest of any Hollywood studio ever “with four more days to go.” (Warner Bros. previously held the foreign b.o. record set in 2007 of $2.240 billion.) “Avatar’s” Japan opening generated $14.5 million from 1,114 screens while its Poland bow registered $1.8 million from 235 sites. Fox said the film finished No. 1 in 107 of the 108 territories it played on the weekend. It ranked No. 2 in India after a local language title. The most receptive market is France where “Avatar’s” second weekend gross was $18.5 million from 1,114 sites for a per-screen average of $16,607. France cume stands at $48.4 million.
In second place was Warner Bros.' Sherlock Holmes, which grossed an estimated $65.4 million, USA Today reports. And landing in third place was Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, which collected $50.2 million, significantly more than the original film's $44.3 million opening in December 2007. Theatrical tracker Box Office Mojo says it was the biggest opening weekend ever, narrowly beating the mid-July 2008 weekend when The Dark Knight pushed box office receipts to a new high of $253 million.
President and publisher Brandon Gray says Christmas is traditionally a busy time of the year at the box office, and when Christmas Day falls on a Friday, receipts tend to skyrocket. "But it still needs attractive movies," he says, according to the same source, "and this year there were three huge movies everyone wanted to see." The three-day weekend began with the biggest Christmas Day ever. Sherlock Holmes grossed $24.9 million and Avatar made $23.5 million, shattering the previous record of $19.5 million set by Meet the Fockers in 2004. Alvin took in $14.5 million to take the No. 4 spot on the all-time list for that day.
"Avatar" has earned $212.3 million after 10 days of release across the United States and Canada. The film enjoyed a surprisingly strong hold, losing just 3 percent of its opening-weekend audience, ABC News reports. It garnered almost as much attention for its reported record-breaking budget of at least $300 million as for its tale of a disabled ex-Marine sent from Earth to infiltrate an alien race of 10-foot (3 meter)-tall blue people in order to save his polluted planet.
Another new film, It's Complicated, opened in fourth with $22.1 million. The No. 5 position on the weekend box office charts went to Up in the Air, which collected $11.8 million its fourth wee, according to USA today. Rounding out the top 10 on the weekend box office charts: The Blind Side, with $11.7 million; ($8.7 million); Nine ($5.5 million); Did You Hear About the Morgans? ($5 million) and Invictus ($4.4 million).
