14 DAY TRIAL // Days ago, industry insiders were saying “Avatar” was on its way to becoming the second most successful movie of all times, both domestically and internationally, right behind “Titanic,” also from director James Cameron. “Avatar” has just secured this position over the weekend and is now set to overturn “Titanic” for the ultimate distinction of biggest grossing film ever to be released, CNN says, citing an EW report.
It’s been six weeks since it hit theaters, and “Avatar” continues to not show any signs of stopping. As a matter of fact, Cameron’s latest film about a magical planet inhabited by giant, blue aliens, seems to be remaining unbelievably strong, with only a 16 percent drop in grossing internationally, a quite uncommon occurrence in the movie industry. By comparison, new releases over the weekend almost did not stand a chance with “Avatar” screening at the same time, the report goes on to say.
“A scant 16-percent drop in its sixth weekend of release has helped James Cameron’s sci-fi spectacle become the second highest-grossing movie of all time. In contrast, the new releases failed to make a significant mark, with the apocalyptic film Legion performing strongest with an estimated $18.2 million and a second-place showing. Avatar earned an additional $36 million this weekend, climbing to $552.8 million domestically and surpassing The Dark Knight’s $533.3 million domestic haul. If it continues to drop in the 20-percent range as it has the last few weekends this time it only fell 16 percent it’s on track to is top Titanic’s $600.8 million by mid-February,” CNN writes.
There are numbers for domestic ticket sales: internationally, “Avatar” is right behind “Titanic” and will most likely over take it by the time this goes online. “Worldwide, Avatar is also the second-highest grossing movie of all time at $1.8 billion, trailing Titanic by less than $7 million. In contrast, none of the new releases is likely to have much of an afterlife. Legion may have bowed in second place, but it earned a dismal C- from exit pollster Cinemascore, meaning there is unlikely to be much positive word-of-mouth for this movie,” the same publication further says.
The irony of all this is that, only days before the release of “Avatar,” many industry insiders were saying that, with a budget set officially at $300 million (which meant it was more like $500 million off the record), the film stood zero chances of turning a profit, being unable to rise to the challenge. Though studio execs were saying moviegoers should not pay attention to the negative hype and should go, instead, to see the film, naysayers continued with their bleak predictions – until the opening weekend, when they were already proven wrong.