**UPDATED!** AVATAR Takes Over At The Box Office
Updated: Variety is now reporting that Sunday numbers were stronger than expected, with Avatar’s final tally being $77.3 million to finish ahead of I Am Legend as the best December opening ever.
Despite heavy snowstorms across the American Northeast, James Cameron’s sci fi epic Avatar hauled in an estimated $73 million over the weekend to take the top spot at the box office. That figure put Avatar into the record books as the highest grossing debut ever for a non-sequel/remake/adaptation, and also made it the second-highest opening in December behind just I Am Legend’s $77.2 million back in 2007.
Heavy snowfall bombarded the East Coast over the weekend, which saw marked declines starting Saturday as the brunt of the storm hit. Still, Avatar managed to get a good number of folks to the theater, with 3D presentations accounting for about $52 million of the gross. IMAX doesn’t report its numbers until Monday, but company reps are already saying the film has broken every major IMAX record. An additional $159.18 million came in through international territories, which brought Avatar’s worldwide debut up to a whopping $232.2 million. With movies traditionally gaining steam through Christmas, Avatar is already well on its way to making back its sky-high budget and becoming another stellar blockbuster hit for Cameron.
The other new wide release, Did You Hear About The Morgans?, made virtually no noise in its opening and managed only $7 million for 4th place. Last weekend’s number 1, The Princess and the Frog, fell to second with a $12.2 million showing and brought its total to a so-so $44.8 million. The Blind Side continued its strong run and came in 3rd with $10 million, while The Twilight Saga: New Moon rounded out the top 5 with $4.4 million (and just barely edged out Invictus‘ 6th place, $4.2 million weekend).
In the specialty market, Rob Marshall’s Nine bowed spectacularly to the tune of $247,000 at 4 theaters, or a weekend-best $61,750 average. Crazy Heart also fared well, with $84,200 at four sites for a $21,050 average.
Avatar will face some stiff competition next week when Sherlock Holmes bows at theaters. Likewise, It’s Complicated will come into the picture with Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, which I still can’t believe is getting a theatrical release (TELL ME those ads don’t look like direct-to-DVD hooey). Incidentally, that’s also the order that I think the new releases will finish in next week. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus will open in limited release as well. The record stands at 57 for 79.
Check out the top 12 below, or head on over to Box Office Mojo for the full weekend chart:
New releases highlighted in yellow
| TW | LW | Title (click to view) | Studio | Weekend Gross | % Change | Theater Count / Change | Average | Total Gross | Budget* | Week # | |
| 1 | N | Avatar | Fox | $73,000,000 | - | 3,452 | - | $21,147 | $73,000,000 | - | 1 |
| 2 | 1 | The Princess and the Frog | BV | $12,224,000 | -49.5% | 3,475 | +41 | $3,518 | $44,756,000 | $105 | 4 |
| 3 | 2 | The Blind Side | WB | $10,030,000 | -33.4% | 3,407 | +19 | $2,944 | $164,734,000 | $29 | 5 |
| 4 | N | Did You Hear About the Morgans? | Sony | $7,000,000 | - | 2,718 | - | $2,575 | $7,000,000 | $58 | 1 |
| 5 | 4 | The Twilight Saga: New Moon | Sum. | $4,370,000 | -45.1% | 3,035 | -600 | $1,440 | $274,561,000 | $50 | 5 |
| 6 | 3 | Invictus | WB | $4,170,000 | -51.6% | 2,125 | - | $1,962 | $15,845,000 | $60 | 2 |
| 7 | 5 | A Christmas Carol (2009) | BV | $3,419,000 | -50.0% | 2,070 | -332 | $1,652 | $130,789,000 | $200 | 7 |
| 8 | 11 | Up in the Air | Par. | $3,100,000 | +29.5% | 175 | +103 | $17,714 | $8,106,000 | $25 | 3 |
| 9 | 6 | Brothers | LGF | $2,630,000 | -47.6% | 2,009 | -79 | $1,309 | $22,091,000 | $26 | 3 |
| 10 | 7 | Old Dogs | BV | $2,289,000 | -48.1% | 2,630 | -460 | $870 | $43,574,000 | $35 | 4 |
| 11 | 8 | 2012 | Sony | $2,150,000 | -50.6% | 2,242 | -596 | $959 | $158,974,000 | $200 | 6 |
| 12 | 9 | Armored | SGem | $1,225,000 | -65.0% | 1,538 | -381 | $796 | $14,195,000 | $20 | 3 |
Tags: Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, Avatar, Box Office, Crazy Heart, Did You Hear About The Morgans?, Invictus, It's Complicated, Nine, Sherlock Holmes, The Blind Side, The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus, The Princess and the Frog, The Twilight Saga: New Moon
