Weekend Estimates: Avatar Debuts with $73 Million

December 20, 2009

Fox have announced their estimate for the opening weekend of Avatar: $73 million. The daily breakdown is estimated as Friday $27 million, Saturday $25.65 million, Sunday $20.35 million. Despite falling short of the most optimistic predictions, in part thanks to poor weather on the East Coast, the movie ranks high among the best opening weekend for non-franchise movies. It stands to open in third place on that list, behind The Passion of the Christ and December record holder I am Legend, and takes the record for the biggest opening for a wholly original production. IMAX sales are reportedly through the roof, with every single seat sold throughout the weekend. International sales are also extremely strong, with Fox reporting $159.18 million so far for a worldwide total of $232 million.

Second place was taken by The Princess and the Frog, down a surprisingly steep 50% from its opening at $12.2 million. The Blind Side was third with $10.3 million in its fifth weekend.

Did You Hear About the Morgans? paid for its terrible reviews with disastrous $7 million opening for Sony.

The standout Among the limited releases was Nine, which picked up an estimated $247,000 for Weinstein Co. in just four venues.

- Weekend Estimates

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