Weekend Estimates: Avatar Debuts with $73 Million
December 20, 2009
Fox have announced their estimate for the opening weekend of Avatar: $73 million.
The daily breakdown is estimated as Friday $27 million, Saturday $25.65 million, Sunday $20.35 million.
Despite falling short of the most optimistic predictions, in part thanks to poor weather on the East Coast, the movie ranks high among the best opening weekend for non-franchise movies.
It stands to open in third place on that list, behind The Passion of the Christ and December record holder I am Legend, and takes the record for the biggest opening for a wholly original production.
IMAX sales are reportedly through the roof, with every single seat sold throughout the weekend.
International sales are also extremely strong, with Fox reporting $159.18 million so far for a worldwide total of $232 million.
Second place was taken by The Princess and the Frog, down a surprisingly steep 50% from its opening at $12.2 million.
The Blind Side was third with $10.3 million in its fifth weekend.
Did You Hear About the Morgans? paid for its terrible reviews with disastrous $7 million opening for Sony.
The standout Among the limited releases was Nine, which picked up an estimated $247,000 for Weinstein Co. in just four venues.
Filed under: Weekend Estimates, Avatar