Despite looking absolutely dreadful, Legion pulled in an audience of young men who had already visited Pandora multiple times and were looking for something new. The apocalyptic thriller pulled in $17.5M, higher than my $14M prediction. Legion catered to much of its target audience this weekend so a hefty decline of 60% or more is in the cards for next weekend. Legion should collect between $42M-$44M by the end of the Popcorn Period* so its movie contract should cash out at about $43 on the Cantor Exchange. 

The Tooth Fairy opened to a mild $14M, a notch lower than my $16M forecast. This is Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s fourth family film and this time the results weren’t as good as his previous efforts. Take a look.

 

Fairy did best the opening weekend of Planet 51, but it is an unfair comparison because 51 is an animated film, featuring only the actor’s voice. Reviews for the film were downright awful but they probably didn’t have much impact here. More than likely it was the awful premise that kept families away. I mean really, does anyone really want to see “The Rock” in a pink tutu? By the end of the Popcorn Period The Tooth Fairy will probably find about $36M-$38M under its pillow.

The final new release for the weekend was the first film release for CBS films and it was not a good start. Extraordinary Measures fizzled at the box office, collecting a paltry $6M, right on target with my $8M prediction. The film was trashed by critics, something the film’s target audience of adults 30 and up actually cares about, which certainly didn’t help. Both stars Harrison Ford and Brendan Fraser have had trouble in the past translating their respective box office talents to genres other than action adventure and Measures certainly didn’t help their cause. The subject matter of sick children also tends to keep audiences away. The film should finish the Popcorn Period with about $24M-$26M.

Once again Avatar conquered the charts dipping a slim 18% to collect another $34.9M exactly as I predicted. The films massive total now stands at $551.7M making it the second biggest domestic blockbuster of all time. Here’s a look at the top 10.

 

By the end of next weekend, Avatar should be within striking distance of Titanic’s epic $600.8M haul. Avatar also broke the record for the biggest sixth weekend gross formerly held by Titanic which collected $25.2M in its sixth voyage. The film’s worldwide total now stands at $1.841B, a mere $2M away from Titanic’s record of $1.843B. In fact, by the time you read this, Avatar will officially be the biggest worldwide hit of all time. 

Can Avatar be #1 for a seventh time? That’s the real question heading into this weekend as Mel Gibson returns to the silver screen for the first time in eight years with revenge thriller, Edge of Darkness. I suspect that the Na’vi will be able to fend off Mr. Gibson, but it sure is going to be interesting.

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 Edge of Darkness and When in Rome. 

Follow me on Twitter for box office updates throughout the week.

 

*The Popcorn Period – The settlement date for all movie contracts takes place approximately four weeks after a film has been released in theatres. It is during these 4 weeks that a film will collect money at the box office. If a film makes $50M at the box office during these 4 weeks, the contract will cash out a $50. I refer to this time frame as the Popcorn Period