James Cameron's 'Avatar' collected around USD 1.84 billion and broke the record of his own movie 'Titanic' which collected USD 1.84 billion from worldwide.
The 1997 epic love story 'Titanic' which bagged 11 Academy Awards earned huge money between 1997 and 1998 but 'Avatar' broke the record within six months only.
Last weekend 23 Jan 'Avatar' snatched the title of highest earning movie from 'Titanic' by pulling another USD 36 million through worldwide theatres.
In 1997, "Titanic" remained the top-grossing film of all time worldwide, with $1.8 billion. Some hand full of films which have crossed the mark of $1 billion are, "Titanic," "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" and "The Dark Knight."
Earlier "The Lord Of The Rings" has earned $1.1 billion in its 2003 release. Now everybody is suppose to be eyeing on "Avatar" and hopefully it might cross the record of $1.8 Billion. So now the competition has begun between the two films made by the same director James Cameron.
According to the Twitter homepage "Avatar" positions number one in the list of ‘popular topics by the minute’ and ‘popular topics for the day’. Statistically the film has also become the popular topics for the week.
A source has revealed James Cameron's epic action adventure 'Avatar' is buzzing on Twitter since the film has released on Dec. 18.
Cinema lovers across the world are posting their comments about the film and can't stop praising the stunning visual effects of the film. The film also has a gripping love story at its core.
Well, James Cameron has once again proved himself with "Avatar" after his last master piece "Titanic".
This Christmas, Hollywood has given movies like 'Avatar', 'Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, 'Sherlock Holmes' and 'It’s Complicated' this Christmas that deals with moral values and inspiring stories full of positive faith. According to early studio estimates, North Americans spent some $263 million at theaters this Christmas weekend.
James Cameron's enviro-alien epic, 'Avatar' beat all the Christmas competition from 'The Squeakquel' opened Wednesday and Guy Ritchie’s 'Sherlock Holmes'. Though, these movies have snatched No.1 position from 'Avatar' for some time but the Sci-fi movie bounced back to No 1 place quickly.
Avatar's three days collection was around $75 million and second week gross income has reached up to$212.3 million in the US. As per Avatar's worldwide collection, the movie has become sixth highest-grossing picture of the year after Harry Potter 6, Ice Age 3, Transformers 2, 2012 and New Moon.
The Christmas weekend’s top-grossing pictures in North American theaters, as reported by Box Office Mojo.com are:
1. 'Avatar', $75 million; $212.3 million, second week.
2. 'Sherlock Holmes', $65.4 million, first weekend.
3. 'Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel', $50.2 million; $77.1 million, first five days.
4. 'It’s Complicated', $22.1 million, first weekend.
5. 'Up in the Air', $11.8 million; $24.5 fourth week.
6. 'The Blind Side', $11.7 million; $184.4 million, sixth week.
7. 'The Princess and the Frog', $8.7 million; $63.4 million, fifth week.
8. 'Nine', $5.5 million; $5.9 million, second week.
9. 'Did You Hear About the Morgans?', $5 million; $15.6 million, second week
10. 'Invictus', $4.4 million; $23.4 million, third week
This science fiction epic film is showing with new 3D technology which is an important reason behind this huge collection. Reportedly, the film has grabbed an additional USD 159 million globally. "Avatar" is yet to be released in lucrative markets like China and Japan. The production company has not revealed the production cost of the film till now. But according to the New York Times, the production and marketing budget combined must have reached USD 460 million. And the budget does not include the USD 30-million tax credit. According to a source, the film has already earned half of its total budget till now.
Hollywood.com’s box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian said, "The reported large budget for the film was obviously money well spent as the film is on its way to a potential near billion dollars in global receipts". Paul is very hope full about the film. He added, "With stunning and groundbreaking visuals in 3-D, the film will continue to generate massive interest around the world."
"Avatar" sold a studio-estimated $232.2 million worth of tickets around the world this weekend. And it has become the ninth-biggest global debut of all time. Reportedly, the film’s $73-million domestic gross was, like every movie in the market. But the market has been significantly affected Saturday by snowstorms that kept East Coast audiences, from Washington, D.C., through New England, off the roads.
Grosses were noticeably lower in Washington, Philadelphia and Baltimore – as well as in New Orleans and Dallas. Though the film has received a huge opening on the box-office but it stood as the second biggest for December.
Perhaps more importantly, those who saw the movie enjoyed it. Every demographic gave "Avatar" an average grade of A. According to market research firm CinemaScore, those who didn’t turn out for opening weekend will be getting strong recommendations from those who did.
However, the big money for "Avatar" is coming from all over the world. Despite having the frigid weather in Northern Europe, the film has sucessfully collected $159.2 million. Reportedly, it is the sixth-highest simultaneous foreign launch of all time. The film has not yet been released in Japan and China, the two big Asian markets. The film stands in 4th possition just behind the sixth “Harry Potter” movie, the third “Spider-Man” and the third “Pirates of the Caribbean.”
"Avatar" will be releasing in China by 2nd January 2010. It will be releasing in Japan this wednessday. These two big markets have a good share in the overall box office collections and “Avatar” could become the fifth movie to ever top $1 billion in worldwide box office.
The reason behind this huge collection can be considered the 3-Dimentional technology used by Cameron and his team. Till now according to the report, “Avatar” is dominating at the box office.
Here are the names of top 10 movies at the domestic box office.
1. “Avatar” (Fox/Dune/Ingenious): Opened to $73 million in the U.S. and Canada, $159.2 million in 106 foreign countries.
2. “The Princess and the Frog” (Disney): Off 50% on its second weekend playing nationwide to $12.2 million. Domestic total: $44.8 million.
3. “The Blind Side” (Warner Bros./Alcon): $10 million, down just 33% on its fifth weekend. U.S. and Canadian total: $164.7 million.
4. “Did You Hear About the Morgans?” (Sony/Relativity): Debuted to $7 million.
5. “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” (Summit): Off 45% on its fifth weekend to $4.4 million, bringing its domestic take to $274.6 million.
6. “Invictus” (Warner Bros./Spyglass): Fell 52% on its second weekend to $4.2 million. Domestic total: $15.9 million.
7. “A Christmas Carol” (Disney): $3.4 million, down 50% on its seventh weekend. $130.8 million so far.
8. “Up in the Air” (Paramount/Montecito): $3.1 million as it more than doubled its theater count to 175. U.S and Canadian gross so far: $8.1 million.
9. “Brothers” (Lionsgate): $2.6 million, down 48% on its third weekend. $22.1 million domestic total.
10. “Old Dogs” (Disney): $2.3 million on its fourth weekend, down 48%. Domestic take to date: $43.6 million.
The sci-fi movie is directed by famous director James Cameron. "Avatar" is releasing in 3D and 2D formats. According to the Industry analysts if the movie breaks all the expected records, it will become the milestone for 3D movies.
Jeff Bock, analyst of Exhibitor Relations Co. said, "For a lot of older people, it's going to be the first film that they see in 3D." He also added, "Don’t be surprised if it hits that billion dollar mark (worldwide during its entire run) if it really takes off and becomes the event film of the season."
According to President of Hollywood.com Box Office, Paul Dergarabedian, "Avatar" could earn between $85 million and $100 million.
The expected collection of "Avatar" is shorter than the three-day weekend collection of romantic movie "The Twilight Saga: New Moon, which collected $142.8 million.
James Cameron’s “Avatar” is story of a paralyzed soldier from Earth sent to Pandora to mix up with their native humanoid race.
According to Fox Studio this weekend "Avatar" will open in more than 3300 theatres in the US, including 2100 3-D locations.
The movie is produced by Twentieth Century Fox and the budget of the movie is around $230-million (Rs.1, 200-crore).
The CEO of Fox Star Studios India, Vijay Singh said, "There is an incredible buzz around the film in India and we are going all out to give it the best possible release. 'Avatar' will be released with 700 prints, in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu, which is by far one of the biggest releases for a Hollywood film in India."
Mr. Vijay Singh also added, "The local market for Hollywood films is growing at a very fast rate and there is an unprecedented hype surrounding ‘Avatar’ across India. We therefore decided to release the 3D version in Tamil too as it is an important market."
'Avatar' is the first 3D Hollywood movie to be released in Tamil.
The distributor of 'Avatar' in Tamil Nadu, Swaroop Reddy, director, Sathyam Cinema, told reporters, "Avatar" is undoubtedly the most awaited movie of the decade and we at Sathyam Cinemas are all revved up about it especially since we're releasing it in digital 3D too… We're expecting nothing short of a phenomenal response at the cinemas."
The Fox Studio will be releasing the movie with more than 100 prints in Tamil Nadu in both English and Tamil.
The amazing blend of live-action photography and virtual photo realistic production techniques, “Avatar” is releasing in 2D and 3D formats.
The star cast of the movie includes Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana and Sigourney Weaver. The story of the movie revolves around paralyzed ex-mariner Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) who participates in the Avatar program, which will enable him to walk. Jake travels to planet Pandora, home to the Na'vi, a sentient humanoid race. Where, Jake has to exploit valuable minerals but eventually he crosses over to lead the Na'vi race in a battle for survival.
