If and when James Cameron decides to direct another feature film, he probably won’t be second-guessed as much as he has in the past about his production budget.
Fox’s “Avatar” this weekend became the filmmaker’s second consecutive movie to cross the $1 billion mark at the global box office, while leading the domestic market with an estimated $352.1 million over the three-day New Year’s weekend period, according to studio data.
Propelled by the biggest New Year's Day gross ever ($25.2 million) and reaching the $1 billion mark in only 15
days, “Avatar” has become the fourth highest grossing movie globally of all time, narrowly surpassing “The Dark Knight,” while set to catch Nos. 3 and 2 on the list (“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest” and “Lord of the Rings: Return of the King”) later this week.
That will leave Cameron's last movie, 1997 all-time global gross champion “Titanic” ($1.8 billion) in its sight.
Even rivals are pulling for “Avatar.” “I think it’s fantastic,” said a studio distribution president who doesn't work for Fox. “They’ve got their work cut out for them, but I’d love to see them break that record.”
For his part, Fox executive VP of distribution Chris Aronson said it was “too early to speculate” as to whether “Avatar” will ultimately climb past “Titanic,” which was released on the same December weekend in 1997 and had only grossed $152.5 million domestically through New Year’s weekend 1998.
“I will say that this is a movie that galvanizes moviegoers,” Aronson added. “This is a rare once-in-a-longtime film that gets people to go to movies who don’t ordinarily go to movies.”
Overall, the domestic box office totaled around $220 million for the weekend, according to one studio’s estimate, up 44 percent over the 2009 New Year’s three-day weekend period, which came in at $153 million.
And yes, that three-day New Year’s performance is yet another box-office record. (See also: Year-End Box Office Now Pegged at $10.6B)
Right behind “Avatar” for the second straight week was Warner’s “Sherlock Holmes,” which declined 40 percent from its premiere week to $38.4 over the three-day weekend period. Guy Ritchie’s action-driven re-imagination of the classic London detective tale, starring Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes and Jude Law as Watson, has grossed $140.7 million in two weeks of release.
While overshadowed by "Avatar," "Holmes" has put its name on some of the all-time lists, too -- it had the third-best New Year's Day ever, for example, taking in $14.9 million Friday.
And once again finishing in third place, Fox family film “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel” declined about 27 percent from its first weekend, taking in an estimated $36.6 million. Its domestic total after two and a half weeks is $157.3 million.
In fourth place, Universal romantic comedy “It’s Complicated” has quietly built momentum, dropping only 15 percent in week two to $18.7 million.
At this point, “Complicated’s” money dynamics don’t look too much different from director Nancy Meyers’ most successful cheesy rom-com effort, 2000 Mel Gibson starrer “What Women Want.”
