From Variety:Twentieth Century Fox's "Avatar" grossed $3.5 million in midnight runs from approximately 2,000 locations in a strong start for James Cameron's sweeping 3D sci-fi fantasy.
Friday matinees are also selling out.
Many of the midnight runs were in 3D locations.
"Avatar" has a strong shot at securing the best December bow of all time. Current record holder is Will Smith starrer "I Am Legend," which posted an opening weekend gross of $77.2 million. That film grossed roughly $30.6 million on its first Friday, including $1.7 million in midnight grosses from roughly 1,100 theaters.
"Avatar" also is expected to do big business in its day and date international launch, having already scored impressive first-day launches in a number of territories, including France.
"Avatar" faces the challenge of being an original title, versus a franchise sequel.
-Any guesses for what the weekend Box Office will be?
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The snow in the East might hurt it a bit, but not much...
ReplyDeleteI imagine it will come really close to beating LOTR's record. The midnight shows were pretty full last night and the theatre was packed tonight (Friday), so we'll see. I don't think it will break opening days records, but I have no idea really at this point. It was such an incredible movie I don't care abotu box office. :)
ReplyDeleteIndeed, quality beats finance...
ReplyDeletei'm more interested in seeing what comes in second place this weekend. The safe bet would be The Blind Side, but it's been out long enough for people to start going to see other movies.
ReplyDeleteMy guess would be The Princess and the Frog, or Did You Hear About the Morgans?...
ReplyDeleteyou're prob right about The Princess and the Frog. I forgot about that one.
ReplyDeletewhen in doubt, go with family entertainment...
ReplyDeletelooks like the snow did affect it a bit, but it still had an impressive 27 million opening day and 3.5 million at the midnight screenings. I get the feeling this is the kind of thing that will have a strong opening but will really make it's money from continued sales and word of mouth
ReplyDeleteThat's certainly what the studio hopes. I'll be seeing it in real Imax 3-D on Tuesday, so if it's crowded then, it'll be a good sign.
ReplyDelete27 million for an opening day is usually great...
ReplyDeleteNot for Avatar. That's what you get for making a 300 million dollar movie. Unless is has Titantic style legs, it won't make the 600-700 needed to recoup the budget and P&A.
Sucks to be James Cameron.
But when you think about it, Titanic opened in December with only $28.6 million, to go on to make $600 million at the US box office. However it went on to take twice as much as that again internationally, to take a total of $1.8 billion at the world wide box office. Having said that, however, Titanic was not a sci-fi film.
ReplyDeleteWhat I'm hearing is it's made 73 in the US and 232 worldwide, so it's off to a good start, provided the word of mouth translates into steady sales the next few weeks.
ReplyDelete