Sam Worthington in Avatar (Mark Fellman / 20th Century Fox)
James Cameron's Avatar has broken its own "Monday in December" record. According to the Box Office Mojo Monday chart, yesterday Avatar earned an estimated $19.4 million ($5,619 per screen) at the US/Canada box office, landing in the chart's #7 slot. Last Monday, Cameron's sci-fi adventure had grossed $16.3m.
Still ahead of Avatar are Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 2 ($27.6m), with Tobey Maguire; Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull ($26,7m), with Harrison Ford and Cate Blanchett; the Johnny Depp vehicle Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End ($25m); Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight, with Christian Bale and Heath Ledger ($24.4m); Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury, and Conrad Vernon's animated feature Shrek 2 ($23.4m); and Brett Ratner's X-Men: The Last Stand ($20.1m), with Hugh Jackman and Halle Berry.
None of the above films opened in December. And only Shrek 2 made more than Avatar on a "second" Monday (not the one following the film's opening weekend). But bear in mind that ticket prices have risen in the last few years and that tickets for Avatar are even more expensive because of 3D/IMAX surcharges.
According to Box Office Mojo, in its first 11 days Avatar has grossed a remarkable $232.1m domestically and a worldwide total of nearly $643m.
Avatar stars Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Giovanni Ribisi, Laz Alonso, and Wes Studi.
For the record: Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel earned $12m (#30) and Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law, grossed another $11.1m on its first Monday out.
Others still doing well as the new week begins are Meryl Streep's It's Complicated, with $4.2m, and Sandra Bullock's The Blind Side, with $2.8. In limited release, Jeff Bridges' Crazy Heart has grossed approximately $360,000.
Delighted for Avatar. it will easily pass $1bn worldwide, perhaps bcoming the 2nd most successful film of all time (behind Cameron's own Titanic). But I'm interested to know what it's box office total would be if you adjust the more expensive IMAX 3D ticket prices for regular ticket prices – perhaps it would be about $50m lower than it is at present? Still, it is a great achievement.