'Avatar' blasts past $1 billion worldwide

Well ... it happened and I thought it would take 30 days!
Jean-Luc

James Cameron's 3D epic hits the mark in just 21 days

"Avatar" started the new decade dominating the foreign circuit by grossing an estimated $133.5 million on the weekend -- down just 13% from the prior stanza -- from more than 13,500 screens in 110 markets.

Worldwide in just 21 days, director James Cameron's mega-budget epic has rolled up total boxoffice of $1.022 billion (comprising $670.2 million offshore and $352.1 million domestic).

Only five films in motion picture history have exceeded worldwide boxoffice of more than $1 billion, and "Avatar" now ranks No. 4 on that all-time list.

Preceding it are Cameron's own 1997 smash "Titanic" ($1.843 billion) from 20th Century Fox, the distributor of "Avatar"; 2003's "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" ($1.119 billion) from New Line Cinema; and 2006 's "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" ($1.066 billion), from Disney. Trailing "Avatar" is 2008's "The Dark Knight" ($1.001 billion), from Warner Bros.

"At the current pace of business," adds Fox, "Avatar" could claim the No. 2 all-time spot this week "even with school holidays ending in many markets."

Top "Avatar" territories overseas were France ($21.3 million on the weekend for a $84.5 million), Germany ($12.3 million, cume $57.2 million), Spain ($10.1 million, cume $47.1 million) and the U.K. ($9.3 million, cume $53 million).

No. 2 foreign on the weekend was Warner Bros.' "Sherlock Homes," director Guy Ritchie's adaptation co-starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law of the venerable Sir Arthur Conan Doyle detective series. Second weekend on the foreign circuit detected $37.6 million from 4,600 screens for an early cume of $88.3 million. "Holmes' " No. 2 finish in the U.K. provided $5.2 million from 762 sites for a market cume of $19 million.

Finishing third was Fox's family-oriented title "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel," which grossed $32 million from 6,105 locations in 54 markets. Overseas cume stands at a hair under $100 million ($99.1 million). A No. 3 U.K. finish generated $3.8 million from 492 spots for a market cume of $20.3 million.

Opening at No. 4 on the weekend in Russia, Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania is Universal's release of "Black Lightning," co-produced by the studio and Russian wunderkind producer-director Timur Bekmambetov." Being touted as "the Russian response to 'Transformers' and 'Batman,' " "Lightning" drew $9.7 million from 800 screens.

In Russia, the weekend tally was $8.9 million from 698 locations, sufficient for a No. 2 ranking behind "Avatar." Universal ranks "Black Lightning," directed by Alexander Voytinsky and concerning a mild-mannered student-turned-flying superhero, as the distributor's fourth-biggest opening in the market. Openings in Israel and Bulgaria loom this week.

Winding up at No. 5 was Disney Animation's '"The Princess and the Frog," which drew $9.5 million from 2,929 screens in 17 territories for an overseas cume of $45 million. A third Italy weekend provided $2.9 million from 550 sites for a market cume of $12.9 million.

Universal's "It's Complicated," a comedy from writer-director Nancy Meyers co-starring Meryl Streep, Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin, drew $5 million in its second weekend on the foreign circuit from 1,053 sites in 13 territories. Overseas cume stands at $13.8 million.

Sony's "Did You Hear About the Morgans?" generated $3.6 million from 575 locales in just seven markets, nudging its total overseas gross thus far to $6 million. The romantic comedy co-starring Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker finished the weekend in the No. 4 spot in the U.K., taking in nearly $2.1 million from 318 screens.

"2012," Sony's top-grossing picture of 2009 overseas, pushed its offshore cume to $595.2 million thanks to a $4.9 million weekend at 3,265 sites in 72 markets.

Still generating boxoffice in Japan at 618 situations was Pixar/Disney's "Up," which has grossed a total of $422 million offshore. Weekend tally was $3.1 million. Disney's "Old Dogs," a comedy with John Travota and Robin Williams, generated $3 million from 1,264 locales in 20 markets for an overseas cume of $25 million.

Other international cumes: Universal's "Couples Retreat," $52.9 million; Sony's "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs," $83.6 million (after a $2.8 million weekend at 910 screens in 21 markets); Pathe's "Loup," $7.8 million (France only); Universal's "Public Enemies," $116.2 million; EuropaCorp. Distribution's "Arthur et la vengeance de Maltazard," $31.6 million (over five frames, France only); Sony's "Zombieland," $23.1 million; Studio Canal's "R.T.T.," $7.7 million (France only); and Focus Features/Universal's "9," $7.1 million (seven Universal territories only).