Box Office Breakdown: Avatar Has the Edge Over Mel Gibson

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Disney, Paramount, Sony, Touchstone, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Period, Romance, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists,

Despite success in recent years as a director, Mel Gibson hasn’t been seen in front of the cameras in quite some time. Unfortunately, he couldn’t have picked a worse weekend to make a return.

Gibson’s new film, Edge of Darkness, debuted to a respectable $17.2 million over the past three days. While that may - may - have been enough for a first place finish at any other time, the Warner Bros. feature brought in approximately half as much as that other film.

Avatar, with its $31.3 million take, is now approximately $10 million shy of officially taking the domestic crown from Titanic. (The 20th Century Fox film finally become the worldwide leader during the past week.) If the sci-fi extravaganza remains at #1 for

it’ll officially tie E.T. for that record.)

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Box Office Breakdown: Avatar Just Hours Away from Worldwide Record

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories:

Are we there yet?

Despite six weeks of chart-topping numbers, Avatar still hasn’t brought down the Titanic. Yes - the movie did finally surpass The Dark Knight on the domestic charts. And yes - the 20th Century Fox feature is now the top international earner at $1.29 billion. But James Cameron’s earlier blockbuster is still slightly ahead - by approximately $2 million - as far as worldwide receipts are concerned. (Monday’s ticket sales should change that for Avatar.) The 3D-adventure is also approximately $49.1 million shy of becoming the domestic king of the world.

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Box Office Breakdown: Avatar Makes It a Five-Peat

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, DreamWorks, Lionsgate, Paramount, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Biopics, Drama, Family, Romance, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Sports, Box Office, Lists,

The Titanic has slowly started to take on water.

Over the holiday weekend, Avatar added another $54.6 million to its domestic total ($505 million), bringing it that much closer to The Dark Knight‘s second-place spot. The Golden Globe-winning film, which now stands at approximately $1.6 billion internationally ($200 million shy of Titanic), also became the first film since The Sixth Sense to win five straight weeks in a row.

Meanwhile, The Book of Eli - starring Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman - put up good numbers despite finishing in second place. Allen and Albert Hughes’ first movie since 2001’s From Hell raked in an impressive $38.4 million, giving Washington his second best debut ever. (American Gangster took in $43.6 million in 2007.) The receipts also made the film Warner Bros.’ best January opener to date.

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Box Office Breakdown: Avatar Leaps Further Up the Charts

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Disney, Lionsgate, Paramount, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Horror, Musicals, Romance, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Sports, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists,

Hear that sound? That’s Avatar knocking on Titanic‘s door.

Over the past three days, Fox’s sci-fi blockbuster padded another $50.3 million to its total, officially making it the top entry of 2009. (Sorry, Transformers!) The movie now stands directly behind Jim Cameron’s other film on the international charts ($1.34 billion compared to $1.84 billion) and is ranked 7th on the domestic charts. (The Dark Knight sits on that list at #2 with $533,345,358.)

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Box Office Breakdown: Avatar Dominating the Globe

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Disney, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Weinstein Company, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Biopics, Drama, Family, Music, Period, Romance, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Sports, Box Office, Lists,

An absence of new movies meant very little change for the overall box office standings. A lack of competition, though, meant lots of movement for Avatar.

Over the weekend, the sci-fi extravaganza packed an additional $68.5 million to its already-impressive domestic total. The figure - a record for any entry in its third week - brought the film that much closer to becoming one of the top domestic grossers ever. Avatar ($352.1 million) is now only days away from passing 10th place finisher Star Wars: Episode III—Revenge of the Sith ($380.3 million).

Internationally, James Cameron is just a few rungs away from one of his other films. In just 17 days, the 20th Century Fox release has pulled in approximately $1.02 billion. That places Avatar behind only Titanic ($1.84 billion), The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King ($1.12 billion) and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest ($1.07 billion).

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Box Office Breakdown: Sherlock, Avatar Both Winners

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Disney, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Weinstein Company, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Biopics, Drama, Family, Musicals, Period, Romance, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Sports, Box Office, Lists,

A collection of wide releases contributed to the biggest weekend for movies in box office history.

Over the past three days, theatergoers shelled out over $275 million—a good portion of that going to Avatar. Despite slightly disappointing results last week, an improvement in weather - and strong word of mouth - helped the sci-fi flick pack on another $75.2 million to its $212 million domestic total.

Meanwhile, Sherlock Holmes debuted in second place with first place-like numbers. The Guy Ritchie directed-film started its run with a record breaking haul on Christmas Day, only to fall behind the sci-fi entry. But Warner Bros. really has nothing to complain about. Holmes still closed the weekend with $62.4 million in ticket sales.

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