Avatar hangs on at box office!
Both Robert Downey Jr’s Sherlock Holmes and kids flick Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel did terrific at the box office over Christmas weekend, but like the best diet supplement, Avatar held on to its top spot at the box office.
Avatar posted $75 million in domestic box office, a drop-off of less than three percent from last weekend, and brought its domestic take to $212 million. Add in foreign markets and Avatar raked in another $402 million, making for a global box office take of $615 million in only 10 days of release. Even with its lofty budget of $300 million, plus another $200 million in global marketing efforts, Avatar is now safely in the black.
The next question will be how long it can hang on.
Sherlock Holmes drew $65.3 million in its opening bow, which would be more than enough to earn the top spot most weeks, but this time out was only good enough for a strong second place. Alvin and the Chipmunks was also surprisingly strong, garnering $50.2 million in its opening bow and $77 million since its early release last week.
Proving that this weekend’s choices were all worthy of moviegoers’ attention, even the iffy romantic comedy It’s Complicated did well, drawing $22.1 million in box office and securing the fourth spot. Going into wide release, Up In The Air posted an $11.75 million weekend to take the fifth spot away from The Blind Side, which still managed $11.73 million in its sixth week of release.
Twilight Saga: New Moon dropped all the way to 11th place, adding only $3 million domestically to its $280 million take so far, and with $381 million from foreign markets, that puts New Moon at $662 million, or just slightly ahead of Avatar. Of course, I’d rather have New Moon’s profit margin; that flick cost only $25 million against $662 million in global box office, compared to Avatar’s $500 million plus against $616 million in global sales.
Not many new flicks expected next weekend, so the horse race should prove interesting among all the contenders currently on the board.