First look: ‘Avatar’ on top again; ‘Daybreakers’ opens well above ‘Leap Year,’ ‘Youth in Revolt’
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America’s not done with ‘Avatar.’
Coming off a phenomenal holiday period that saw the 3-D blockbuster sell more than $350 million of tickets in the U.S. and Canada over just 17 days, ‘Avatar’ experienced the smallest decline of any picture in wide release this weekend, signaling that ‘must-see’ buzz and repeat business will keep driving it well into the winter.
Among new movies, the vampire flick ‘Daybreakers’ got off to a solid start while ‘Leap Year’ and ‘Youth in Revolt’ were unimpressive.
The James Cameron-directed ‘Avatar’ grossed $48.5 million from Friday through Sunday, according to an estimate from distributor 20th Century Fox, down 29% from last weekend. That’s a relatively small decline on any weekend and particularly impressive given that this past Friday was a much slower moviegoing day than the previous one, which was a holiday.
Its gross is by far the biggest ever for a film on its fourth weekend and rivals the previous record holder, $28.7 million for Cameron’s ‘Titanic,’ even accounting for 12 years of ticket price inflation.
Overseas this weekend, ‘Avatar’ took in $143 million from 111 territories. Boosted by its debut in China Monday, foreign ticket sales actually increased this week. Its international total is an astronomical $906 million, while its domestic take so far is an equally impressive $429 million. Not accounting for ticket price inflation, it’s the second-biggest movie ever and has a shot of surpassing the first, ‘Titanic,’ which collected $1.84 billion worldwide.
‘Daybreakers’ sold $15 million of tickets domestically, a good beginning given the $20 million that distributor Lionsgate and the Australian government spent to produce the futuristic vampire picture starring Ethan Hawke.
The romantic comedy ‘Leap Year,’ starring Amy Adams, debuted to $9.2 million, a weak but not disastrous start as distributor Universal Pictures and its partners Relativity Media spent $19 million to acquire the picture.
‘Youth in Revolt’ was another disappointment for the financially struggling Weinstein Co., launching to just $7 million.
Among pictures already in the market, ‘Up in the Air’ and ‘The Blind Side’ continued to play well, dropping just 34% and 35%, respectively.
Warner Bros.’ ‘Sherlock Holmes’ landed in second place again, declining 55% after its strong New Year’s weekend to $16.6 million. ‘Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel’ was right behind it with $16.3 million, down 54%. The two movies have impressive total domestic grosses of $165.2 million and $178.2 million, respectively, following their strong holiday performances.
-- Ben Fritz
Top photo: Michelle Rodriguez in ‘Avatar.’ Credit: ILM.