The ComingSoon.net Box Office Report has been updated with studio estimates for the weekend. Click here for the full box office estimates of the top 12 films and then check back on Tuesday for the final figures based on actual box office.
It has now been seven weeks since James Cameron’s Avatar began its unstoppable run of the box office, not allowing a single other movie to supplant its placement at the top of the heap. That continued unabated as the FX-heavy sci-fi fantasy epic added another estimated $30 million to its haul, down just 14% from last weekend. It has grossed $594.5 million domestically and $1.45 billion internationally for a worldwide total of $2,039,222,000. Having already taken the international gross crown away from Titanic last week, it’s edging closer to the $600 million grossed by Cameron’s previous movie, which has been resting atop the domestic gross record book unhindered for 12 years. Avatar should pass it on Monday or Tuesday and the question now is where will its final box office tally end up, being that it’s likely to remain in IMAX and 3D theaters for at least another month?
Apparently there were other movies playing in theaters this weekend, too, and opening in a distant second place, Martin Campbell’s action-thriller Edge of Darkness (Warner Bros.), featuring the return of Mel Gibson, brought in an estimated $17.1 million in 3,066 theaters, averaging roughly $5,500 per site.
Meanwhile, the Touchstone Pictures rom-com When In Rome, starring Kristen Bell and Josh Duhamel, opened in third place with $12.1 million in 2,456 theaters.
Dwayne Johnson’s family comedy Tooth Fairy (20th Century Fox) picked up some of the slack from its weaker opening, remaining in fourth place with a minimal 29% drop and an estimated $10 million in its second weekend. It has grossed $26 million in its first ten days.
Denzel Washington’s futuristic thriller The Book of Eli (Warner Bros.) dropped to fifth place with $8.8 million in its third weekend, down 44%, with $74.4 million grossed to date.
The Screen Gems action-thriller Legion, starring Paul Bettany, Dennis Quaid and Tyrese Gibson, took a massive plunge, dropping from 2nd place to 6th place with $6.8 million in its second weekend and $28.6 million total. Seventh place went to Peter Jackson’s adaptation of Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones (Paramount) with $4.7 million and $38 million total.
Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes (Warner Bros.) took eighth place with $4.5 million as it edges closer to $200 million, followed by Fox’s Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel with an even $4 million and $209 million grossed to date. Nancy Meyers’ romantic comedy It’s Complicated (Universal), starring Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin, rounded off the Top 10 with $3.7 million having grossed the $100 million mark on Thursday.
Click here for the full box office results of the top 12 films.
