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'Avatar' - Twentieth Century Fox
Oh how James Cameron does like to make history . . . This time, it's with Avatar, which has just surpassed the $1 billion mark in worldwide ticket sales (after only 17 days).
According to Entertainment Weekly, the film took in $68.3 million on New Years weekend, bringing it to a grand total of $352.1 million on the domestic front. Those totals brought the film to the $1 billion mark - a feat which has been accomplished by other films, to be sure, but which has never been done at this pace.
"To put that in perspective, it took The Dark Knight pretty much its entire theatrical run just to make it to that milestone," Adam Vary states.
Also notable is the fact that a healthy portion of the gross comes directly from IMAX theaters (over $66 million), and this, too, is a record-setting figure.
James Cameron's success with Avatar might invoke a trip down memory lane to the mega-blockbuster days of the less-than-ill-fated Titanic. But not too fast. According to another EW article, "It took director James Cameron’s Titanic 44 days to reach the $300 million mark," which Avatar did in 15 days (having taken in $25 million-ish on New Years Day alone). In other words, Avatar is a whole new ride in the success park.
While it's hardly likely that Avatar will remain in theaters as long as Titanic did (seven months), the film will probably hang around for quite some time. Will it replace Titanic as the highest grossing film (on the worldwide scale) for all time? Right now, it sits at the 27th spot on that list, and it'll have to bring in close to another billion, but it's certainly possible. Any guesses at when that might happen?
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