Higher the risk, higher the gain applies for the movie “Avatar”, which is the one of the riskiest movie of all times now, declares the all time successful.
The 20th Century Fox and two other financing partners were uncertain about the recovery for the $430 million of their investment in 3-D film, whether the film pay off the investment or not.
Within the three weeks, Avatar, directed by James Cameron became then only fifth movie in history to cross $1 billion worldwide and was the fastest to do the same.
The first three days of New Year 2010 were the fantastic for the movie industry, as there was no new release on Friday. The top 10 movies posted a drop of 38% in their revenue compared to the previous weekend, but the drop is not unusual as a drop of 40% is a modest figure in movies.
“Sherlock Holmes,” “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel” and “It’s Complicated”, which were released on last week — continued to perform well in box-office, but “Nine” was unable to recover from its bas start.
The total revenue were up 50% from the first weekend of previous year, setting Hollywood off to a strong start after a year in which domestic ticket sales grew by 10% and footfall increased by nearly 6%, according to Hollywood.com.
The ticket sales for “Avatar” declined only 10% in the U.S. and Canada to a studio-estimated $68.3 million, the biggest-ever third-weekend take. It broke the previous record of $45 million set by “Spider-Man” in 2002.
The science fiction movie had already crossed $352.1 million from domestic theaters, “Avatar” is on track to end up with at least $450 million domestically and perhaps significantly more if declines stay modest, but “Avatar” has been strongest overseas, where it grossed $133.5 million in 110 markets this weekend, bringing its total to $670.2 million. It is already the fourth-highest grossing movie internationally and soon is expected to become the second, surpassing the $752 million collected by “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.”
“Avatar” already is the highest revenue generating movie ever in Russia, the fourth-highest in Spain and Australia, and the second-biggest U.S. movie all time in France, India and South Korea. I t opens Monday in China, an increasingly lucrative market for effects-laden pictures.
The movie has its real competition in ranking in more money than any film ever is same Cameron’s last film “Titanic” which grossed $1.8 billion in 1997 and 1998. To reach that mark, “Avatar,” which is currently at $1.03 billion, would have to keep generating big returns well into February or March.
Theaters with 3-D screens have accounted for about 75% of its returns in the U.S. and Canada and 59% to 88% in major foreign countries.