Weekend Estimates: Avatar Moves to No.2 with Record Sixth Weekend

January 24, 2010

The Avatar juggernaut rolled on this weekend, as it left The Dark Knight in its wake to become the second-highest grossing movie in North America box office history, according to Fox's estimates released on Sunday morning. Its $36 million haul is the biggest sixth weekend in history (see chart), and its still earning about $10 million a weekend than Titanic was a this stage of its run, so the all-time record (see chart) is now assured.

Avatar's international gross reached an estimated $1.288 billion over the weekend, putting it just just $2 million behind Titanic's all-time record. Once full figures are in, it may actually have topped the record, and, if not, it will surely do so on Monday.

Riding behind Avatar this weekend was Legion, which earned a decent $18.2 million — marginally better than expectations. The Tooth Fairy, meanwhile, was something of a disappointment with $14.5 million in spite of a wide opening in 3,344 theaters.

Extraordinary Measures, the debut outing for CBS Films, pulled in an estimated $7 million, which is clearly a disappointment, but not a disaster for the fledgling studio. First releases are always tough, as the marketing departments take time to gear up and studios start with little leverage over the exhibitors. This result compares favorably with the openings of P2 ($2.1 million) and Mad Money ($7.7 million) that launched Summit Entertainment and Overture Films respectively.

Elsewhere on the chart, Crazy Heart continued to perform strongly, earning $1,425,000 in 93 theaters for an average north of $15,000. To Save a Life was just shy of $1.5 million from 441 theaters.

- Weekend Estimates
- All-Time North American Chart
- All-Time Worldwide Chart
- Biggest Sixth Weekends at the Box Office
- Avatar Comparison Chart

Filed under: Weekend Estimates, To Save a Life, Tooth Fairy, Avatar, Legion, Extraordinary Measures, Crazy Heart