The New Zealand-made special blockbuster Avatar has powered its way to help set Hollywood’s biggest box-office weekend of all time in North America.
The film is also setting the box office pace in New Zealand and around the world despite strong competition from other features.
They all contributed to the North American box-office total over the three day Christmas weekend reaching $US278 million and beating the old record of $US260.8 million from July of 2008, according to preliminary estimates supplied to the New York Times.
James Cameron’s 3-D epic Avatar (20th Century Fox) took the top slot with $US75 million. This brought its gross so far in North America to more that $US210 million.
With overseas taking the total to $US617.3 million in 10 days, Avatar is well on its way to become one of only four films to gross more than $US1 billion and challenge Cameron's own Titanic as the biggest grossing film of time.
Avatar is already among the most expensive films ever made with a budget said to be as high as $US3-400 million, excluding marketing costs (and with a considerable contribution from New Zealander taxpayers in forfeited taxes).
Director Guy Ritchie’s action-oriented remake of Sherlock Holmes (Village Roadshow) grabbed second place with $US65.4 million. (It, too, is on release in New Zealand.)
The Warner Bros produced movie, co-starring Robert Downey, Jr and Jude Law, marks a huge comeback for Ritchie, who is coming off of a tumultuous marriage to Madonna and a string of box office disappointments.
Sherlock Holmes had set a new record for a Christmas Day opening by grossing $US24.9 million. Critics have praised the film for its plotting but some say its it too heavy with special effects that recreate its Victorian London setting.
Children’s cartoon Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (Fox), also screening in New Zealand, was placed third over the weekend with $US50.2 million.
Other big new attractions in the US, released to gain buzz for the Oscars, are It’s Complicated (Universal) starring Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin, fourth with $UU22.1 million ,and the well-received Up in the Air (Paramount) with George Clooney, fifth with $US11.8 million. (Both are due for NZ release in late January.)
Comments and questions5
It's funny The Americans have never even heard of Avatar, and yet this Cameron guy supposedly lives in America, according to what he tells everyone. There's something not right about this media blanket erected out of nowhere for this thing. It's more like they're trying to pull a fast one and skip a few borders with the illegal goods.
Americans have never heard of Avatar? Americans have been anticipating Avatar for months...
I'm American. I'd been looking forward to Avatar for four years, and now I've seen it twice.
OP has no clue im an American and its all anyone is talking about.
I can't understand all the fuss about this satanic looking movie. Imagine , this is what mankind and the earth would look like had lucifer created it. I couldn't figure what the blue "things" were.. I settled on American -Indians/Asians with cornrows and tails.. Man was made in the image of God even though he doesn't always live up to that image. To even suggest that men were once some primative animal is to fly in the face of Divine Truth, The Bible. To think that the public buys this garbage is really sad. Jo
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