Avatar Is King Of The Theaters
Written by Wayne Hall on December 21, 2009 – 12:00 pm -
Around the world, the 3D film Avatar brought in a total of $232.2 million for Twentieth Century Fox in theaters despite a snowstorm that paralyzed the East Coast in the United States and another in Paris, according to Variety. It is the largest opening for a movie that was not a sequel, and was also the sixth biggest international launch overall.
This is good news for Fox, given the $310 million it took to produce the film, which runs for 2 hours and 41 minutes. “We couldn’t have dreamed of a better start,” Fox co-chair/CEO Tom Rothman said. “This film, in particular, was made to go the distance.”
On the strength of Avatar, the weekend take was up 51% over the same weekend last year, when Yes Man and Seven Pounds opened to $18.3 million and $15 million, respectively.
Avatar is James Cameron‘s first feature since Titanic, which was released on the same weekend in December of 1997 and remains the top grossing film of all time worldwide at $1.8 billion (including $1.2 billion internationally).
Cameron waited so long to make his next film so that technology could catch up with his vision for Avatar, the first all-audience 3D tentpole and the widest 3D release to date, both domestically and overseas. Most 3D movies thus far have been animated titles.
On the top 10 list of all-time global openers, Avatar landed between Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen ($165.4 million) and The Da Vinci Code ($155 million).
And Avatar has yet to roll out in several major markets, including Japan and China. Imax numbers will be released soon, which could also add to the film’s coffers.
“People will be talking about this movie for years to come, and it is one of the rare occurrences when critics are completely in tune with the consumer,” Fox president of domestic distribution Chris Aronson said.
Avatar dropped 5% from Friday to Saturday, reflecting the impact of the storm in the Northeast. Theater traffic came to a standstill in Baltimore and Washington, D.C., where ticket sales tumbled 86% and 75%, respectively, from Friday to Saturday. They declined a steep 57% in Philadelphia and 18% in New York.
Related posts:
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- A Wild Thing Weekend At The Movie Theaters
- New Moon Gets Blindsided At Theaters
- ‘Avatar Day’ Announced
- Cameron Has Sequel Idea For Avatar
Tags: 20th Century Fox, Avatar, Da Vinci Code, James Cameron, Transformers
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