Avatar earned another $5 million on Tuesday, Jan. 12, according to Box Office Mojo figures. After 26 days out, James Cameron’s sci-fi epic has grossed $441 million at the domestic box office. Compared to the day before, its earnings dropped by a miniscule 0.9 percent. Avatar is now #5 on the all-time domestic box-office chart (not adjusted for inflation or higher 3D/IMAX ticket prices), right behind Shrek 2. It’ll be #4 once today’s grosses are added in, and it’ll be #3 by Monday, ahead of George Lucas‘ Stars Wars ($460m).
Most other movies among the top-15 actually posted large increases. In second place, Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law, earned $1.4m (+14%), while the Meryl Streep-Alec Baldwin-Steve Martin romantic comedy It’s Complicated, directed by Nancy Meyers, grossed $1.1m (+28%). The vampire flick Daybreakers, starring Ethan Hawke, was #4, with $1.1m (a drop of 6% from Monday).
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel was #5 (almost $728,000), and George Clooney’s Up in the Air was #6 ($716K, a 28% increase). Rounding out the top 10 were the Amy Adams-Matthew Goode romantic comedy Leap Year, Sandra Bullock’s The Blind Side, Michael Cera’s Youth in Revolt, and Disney’s The Princess and the Frog.
Slightly behind Did You Hear About the Morgans?, the Robert Pattinson-Kristen Stewart-Taylor Lautner drama The Twilight Saga: New Moon added nearly $142K at #14 on the list. Total to date: $291m. New Moon has been out for 54 days.
Written and directed by Cameron, Avatar stars Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang (above), Sigourney Weaver, Laz Alonso, Giovanni Ribisi, CCH Pounder, and West Studi. The film has received nominations from the American Cinema Editors, the American Society of Cinematographers, the Writers Guild, the Art Directors Guild, the Directors Guild and the Producers Guild, and it’s up for a Best Film (drama) Golden Globe.
Photo: Mark Fellman / 20th Century Fox