Avatar was off a slim 9% from last weekend collecting another $68.5M, very close to my projection of a 15% decline. The films total stands out a towering $352.1M after 17 days. Avatar is now the second fastest film to reach the $350M mark behind The Dark Knight which reached that milestone after 14 days. Avatar also broke the record for best third weekend in theatres. The prior record holder was 2002’s Spider-Man which grossed $45M in its third frame. At its current rate, it looks like James Cameron will be responsible for the top 2 biggest domestic hits of all time and worldwide for that matter. As it stands now, Avatar is the fastest film in history to reach $1 billion and should have no problem surpassing The Return of the King to take second place. Take a look.

 

Avatar should continue to keep theatres packed over the next few weeks. The word of mouth for the film has been out of this world and if you haven’t seen it yet, take it from me, the film is incredible. With award season buzz, Avatar should perform well into February and the competition headed its way during the month of January isn’t very strong, ranging from yet another vampire flick (Daybreakers) to an action film about angels (Legion). The only film that may challenge Avatar for the #1 spot, The Book of Eli starring Denzel Washington, comes out January 15^th.

To see how the rest of the top 10 shaped up and how my other predictions for the weekend fared, check out the chart below.

Be sure to come back Thursday for my predictions for this weekend’s new releases Daybreakers, Leap Year and Youth in Revolt.

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