No. 1 for the sixth-straight weekend, Cameron’s sci-fi spectacle lifted its domestic total to $552.8 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. Avatar is bearing down on his 1997 epic Titanic, which holds the title with $601 million.
“Avatar,” the 3-D adventure directed by James Cameron, has taken in $552.8 billion in sales in the U.S. since its Dec. 18 release, overtaking 2008’s “The Dark Knight.”
Already “Avatar” claimed the all-time international total with sales to date of $1.288 billion, eclipsing the $1.242 billion haul of “Titanic.”
The haul puts Avatar on track to eclipse Titanic by the weekend or early next week, defying analysts who said that increased studio competition would make it impossible for a movie to beat Titanic.
Here’s how the top 5 at the domestic box office shapes up this weekend:
“Avatar” ($36.0 mil.)
“Legion” ($18.2 mil.)
“Book of Eli” ($17.0 mil.)
“The Tooth Fairy” ($14.5 mil.)
“The Lovely Bones” ($8.8 mil.)