James Cameron's Avatar (WETA / 20th Century Fox) (top); Jude Law, Robert Downey Jr in Sherlock Holmes (Alex Bailey / Warner Bros.) (bottom)
Probably because of both the enormous publicity surrounding its production costs and the nearly mythical place of Titanic in box-office history, Avatar's box-office fate has been a major topic among film-related publications, whether online or elsewhere. So, here we go again.
According to Nikki Finke at Deadline Hollywood, James Cameron's sci-fi epic will come out on top this Christmas weekend despite having fallen behind Sherlock Holmes on Friday, Christmas Day. In her report, Finke says that as per her sources Avatar grossed anywhere between $28 and $32 million on Saturday. She adds that estimates for the film's weekend take range between $76-80 million — or about what Avatar made on its first weekend.
As for the Guy Ritchie-directed Sherlock Holmes, which stars Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law, it is expected to have earned ca. $23 million on Saturday for a weekend total of $65-66m. That's not bad at all, but Finke says it's slightly lower than initially predicted.
Finke's article also includes an early weekend estimate chart. According to those figures, Meryl Streep's It's Complicated will earn a pretty good $23m over the weekend, but the George Clooney vehicle Up in the Air, with less than $12m, could be considered kind of a disappointment. Rob Marshall's all-star musical Nine, for its part, could be considered a major disappointment with only $5.5m.
Final estimate figures — as opposed to final figures, period — will be made available in a few hours.
I wanna see AVATAR again.
i forgot i wanna see sherlock homes too
you may see it then understand everything why i am saying to see it…Don't just see it. See it in 3D. See it in IMAX 3D. This presentation is easily one of the most spectacular things you will see on the big screen.
Avatar is a far better movie than Sherlock Holmes.
Even taking into account that "Up in the Air" had been around for a couple of weeks in very limited release, this weekend's figures were hardly great.
"Up in the Air" isn't a flop, of course, but a $6,203 average per theater on a film's first weekend in wide release (1,895 screens) isn't great. It's just okay, especially when you think of all the positive buzz the film has gotten and that George Clooney is the star. Also, generally speaking, the fewer the # of screens, the higher the per-screen average should be.
Meryl Streep's "It's Complicated," playing in nearly 1,000 more screens (2,887) had a noticeably better average ($7,660) despite lukewarm to negative reviews. That's a solid opening for a "non-event" movie.
And finally, "Up in the Air" is quite some ways from paying for itself. Even if it did cost $24m like the studio claims, this movie would have to earn about twice as much to fully cover its production costs as exhibitors and others keep about 50% of a movie's domestic take at the box office. Not counting what Paramount has spent on distribution, advertising, Oscar campaigns, etc., which will add millions to the film's total cost.
Will "Up in the Air" make a profit? If it really cost $24m, sure it will. But not necessarily because of its take at the domestic box office. Unless the Clooney film has very long legs, profits will likely come after ancillary revenues (DVDs, foreign markets, etc) start coming in.
Sorry but Up in the air is not a disappointment at all. The film was only on 1850 screens for the first time this weekend. And has already gained more than what it costed. The film will be there for a very long time and is already a success. You should also look at its average by screen before making such a false statement.
Let's see if this becomes true or not I want Avatar to win the weekend.