- Avatar box office: Unquestionably a box office phenomenon, James Cameron’s futuristic fantasy has broken a number of domestic records. Curiously, these have been mostly restricted to peculiar categories like Best 3D Performer, Best Weekend No. 3, and Best Non-Weekend Christmas Eve.
Avatar box office: James Cameron’s futuristic fantasy adventure passes $1 billion milestone globally
Jan. 4 update: James Cameron’s generally well-regarded 3D mix of fantasy, science fiction, action/adventure, and social and environmental concerns, Avatar passed the $1 billion milestone worldwide on the first weekend of 2010 (Jan. 1–3), which also happens to be its third weekend out.
As found at boxofficemojo.com, after only 17 days Avatar’s domestic box office stands at $352.1 million; its international total has reached an estimated $670.2 million. Worldwide: $1.022 billion.
For (loose) comparison’s sake: In its first 17 days in the domestic market, Titanic earned $241 million adjusted for inflation. Just make sure to keep in mind that James Cameron’s late 1997 shipwreck movie reached that figure without box-office-inflating 3D surcharges.
Of note, Avatar earned $68.5 million (75 percent of which from higher-priced 3D sites) in the U.S. and Canada on Jan. 1–3, which means it has comfortably broken another record. The previous record holder for weekend no. 3 was the Sam Raimi-Tobey Maguire superhero actioner Spider-Man, which raked in $45 million in 2002 (approx. $52 million in 2009–2010).
No. 4 worldwide
If one chooses to ignore inflation and currency fluctuations, Avatar is trailing only three movies on the (U.S. dollar-based) worldwide box office chart:
- Titanic (1997): $1.84 billion.
- Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003): $1.11 billion.
- Gore Verbinski’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006): $1.06 billion.
Update: Avatar has since passed the $2 billion milestone worldwide.
Avatar vs. Titanic: Comparing floating mountains to floating icebergs
Inevitably, many (including us; see above) have compared Avatar’s box office grosses to those of James Cameron’s previous blockbuster, Titanic. For the most part, however, such comparisons are – at best – iffy.
To begin with, partly thanks to an abundance of 3D/IMAX screenings, ticket prices are on average much higher today: $7.46 in 2009–2010 vs. $4.59 in 1998. In addition, most of Avatar’s earnings have been generated at costlier movie houses; for instance, an adult must pay around $17 to check it out at a 3D/IMAX AMC theater in Los Angeles.
There’s more: Back in 1998 Titanic was screened at fewer theaters than Avatar – 2,727 on its third weekend vs. Avatar’s 3,461 venues – and its running time is more than half an hour longer (194 min. vs. 162m).
All these things should be taken into account when comparing the two James Cameron-branded spectacles.
Avatar box office records: Best domestic 3-day weekend
Dec. 29 update: After falling behind Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes – which, with $24.8 million, shattered Christmas Day records – James Cameron’s futuristic fantasy adventure Avatar ended up victorious at the U.S. and Canada’s Christmas Weekend (Dec. 25–27) box office, bringing in $75.6 million. Total: $212.7 million.
Chiefly thanks to Avatar, Sherlock Holmes’ $65.4 million, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakel’s $50.2 million, and the $22.5 million earned by the Meryl Streep romantic comedy It’s Complicated, the Top Ten movies on the domestic box office chart reached nearly $260 million. An official, non-inflation-adjusted record.
The previous record holder was the weekend of July 18–20, 2008: $253.5 million, with Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight leading the pack with $158.4 million.
In third place is the weekend of Nov. 20–22, 2009: $250 million largely thanks to Chris Weitz’s The Twilight Saga: New Moon, which scored an unexpected $142.8 million.
The runners-up are weekends topped by two Johnny Depp pirate flicks: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (July 2006) and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (May 2007).
Best non-weekend Christmas Eve
Dec. 28 update: James Cameron’s 3D spectacle Avatar took in $11.2 million on Dec. 24, its seventh day out, thus boasting the best non-weekend (Mon.–Thu.) Christmas Eve ever (not adjusted for inflation).
In terms of overall Thursday grosses, Avatar’s Christmas Eve earnings landed it in the far more modest no. 39 slot. The record holder remains George Lucas’ Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, which had its Day 1 on a Thursday in May 2005.
Thanks to inflationary pressures, James Cameron’s other box office phenomenon, Titanic, can be found at no. 37 on the Thursday chart. Back on Jan. 1, 1998 (Day 14), the romantic disaster melodrama (or disastrous romantic melodrama, depending on your take) scored $11.5 million.
As for the month of December, six movies hold higher Thursday (in several instances, Christmas Day) rankings than Avatar:
- Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003): No. 12 & no. 20
- Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002): No. 15 & no. 21
- David Frankel’s Marley & Me (2008): No. 18
- Jay Roach’s Meet the Fockers (2004): No. 28 & no. 31
- David Fincher’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): No. 32
- Shawn Levy’s Night at the Museum (2006): No. 38
Update: Avatar raked in $14.7 million on Thursday, Dec. 31 (Day 14), thus also ranking at no. 17 on the Best Thursday Domestic Box Office Chart.
Avatar beats (lowered) expectations but still below initial weekend estimates
Dec. 21: Thanks to better than expected Sunday business, James Cameron’s Avatar grossed $77 million domestically on its opening weekend, Dec. 18–20.
On Friday and early Saturday, estimates ranged from $80–$85 million for the weekend, but with the sharp drop seen later on Saturday – a direct result of the winter storm battering the East Coast of the United States – estimates were lowered on Sunday to $73 million.
Avatar also performed better than expected in the 106 international markets where it’s currently playing. Distributor 20th Century Fox had (at least officially) estimated a $159.2 million debut, but the futuristic action-adventure fantasy ended up taking in $165.5 million.
As per The Hollywood Reporter, the markets that brought in more than $10 million over the weekend (in some countries extending into last Wednesday/Thursday) were the following:
- Russia: $21 million
- France: $19 million
- U.K.: $14.2 million
- Germany: $13.2 million
- Australia: $11.3 million
- Spain: $11 million
- South Korea: $10.8 million
Top 3D performer but not top December release
It’s worth remembering that Avatar made most of its business (at least domestically) at IMAX and 3D theaters that charge higher ticket prices. In fact, Avatar is now officially the top 3D movie of all time in the domestic market – which isn’t really saying much since most 3D releases haven’t performed all that well and there haven’t been all that many to begin with.
Now, here’s one record that Avatar has failed to break: The 2007 Will Smith star vehicle I Am Legend has (barely) retained the title of Best December Weekend ($77.2 million; not adjusted for inflation and without the assistance of 3D surcharges).
Just bear in mind that Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, which collected $72.6 million in late 2003, would be the actual record holder if inflation were taken into account (approx. $90 million without the assistance of 3D surcharges).
Best ‘original’ debut
But all is not lost: Avatar has enjoyed the biggest domestic opening ever for a non-sequel and for a movie not based on a book, play, toy, video game, comic strip, another movie, TV series, TV commercial, magazine article, advertising billboard, restaurant menu, or fortune-cookie prediction.
And there goes 99.9 percent of the competition of the last 20 years, including I Am Legend (from the previously filmed novel The Omega Man) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
To date, the best opening weekend at the U.S. and Canada box office belongs to Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight, starring Christian Bale as Batman and Heath Ledger as The Joker. The sequel to Nolan’s own Batman Begins earned $158 million in mid-July 2008.
Worldwide, the current record holder is David Yates’ Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. The latest installment in the Harry Potter franchise grossed $394 million last July. Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson star.
How much did Avatar actually cost? How profitable will it be?
Initially estimated at somewhere between $200–$500 million (!), Avatar’s production budget is now being reported within the $250–$350 million range. 20th Century Fox itself has claimed that the Pandora-set fantasy cost $237 million. That, of course, doesn’t include advertising, prints, and related distribution expenses.
As a general rule of thumb, the producing and/or distributing studio receives 50–55 percent of a film’s domestic box office gross and about 40 percent of the international take. Percentages, however, can vary dramatically depending on a variety of contractual factors.
Anyhow, Avatar will earn 20th Century Fox a profit only if its blue Pandorans turn out to have legs as strong as they’re long. In case that happens, Fox won’t have to sell what’s left of its backlot and Los Angeles’ Westside won’t be getting a new suburb.
Remember, the Beverly Hills-adjacent Century City district was born in part as a result of the studio’s Cleopatra debacle back in the early 1960s.
Avatar plot & cast
Set in the 22nd century on the distant planet of Pandora – a treasure trove of minerals invaluable to human entrepreneurs – Avatar stars British-born, Australian-raised Sam Worthington as paraplegic U.S. marine Jake Sully, who, following his arrival on the planet, goes – literally – native, becoming a long-legged, long-eared, long-eyed, blue-hued Na’vi.
Following that (off-and-on) transformation, Sully finds himself at odds with totalitarian-inclined military commander Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), an all-around psychopath who makes Sterling Hayden’s Brig. Gen. Jack D. Ripper in Dr. Strangelove seem (at least moderately) sane.
Avatar is writer-director James Cameron’s first narrative feature since Titanic. Besides Sam Worthington and Stephen Lang, the cast includes Zoe Saldana, Giovanni Ribisi, CCH Pounder, Wes Studi, Dileep Rao, Joel David Moore, Matt Gerald, and three-time Academy Award nominee Sigourney Weaver (Aliens, 1986; etc.)
“Avatar Box Office Records: Several Odd Ones” notes
Unless otherwise noted, “Avatar Box Office Records: Phenomenon Breaks Several Odd Ones” box office information via Box Office Mojo. Budget info – which should be taken with caution – via BOM and/or other sources (e.g., Screen Daily, Deadline.com, The Hollywood Reporter, etc.).
Comments about Avatar, Titanic, and other titles being hits/profitable or flops/money-losers at the box office (see below) are based on the available data about their production budget, additional marketing and distribution expenses (as a general rule of thumb, around 50 percent of the production cost), and worldwide gross (as a general rule of thumb when it comes to the Hollywood studios, around 50–55 percent of the domestic gross and 40 percent of the international gross go to the distributing and producing companies).
Note: Data regarding rebates, global sales/pre-sales, and other credits and/or contractual details that help to alleviate/split production costs and apportion revenues are oftentimes unavailable, and reported international grosses may be incomplete.
Also: Ancillary revenues (global television rights, home video sales, streaming, merchandising, etc.) can represent anywhere between 40–70 percent of a movie’s total take. However, these revenues and their apportionment are only infrequently made public.
Lastly, although a more accurate reflection of a film’s popularity (i.e., the number of tickets sold), inflation-adjusted estimates should be taken with extreme caution. For instance, they’re based on average domestic ticket prices (via the National Association of Theater Owners, unless otherwise noted) whereas numerous major releases scored a large chunk of their box office take at top-priced venues.
Zoe Saldana and Sam Worthington Avatar images: Weta | 20th Century Fox.
“Avatar Box Office Records: Several Odd Ones” last modified in October 2025.