Avatar Passes Star Wars as No. 3 Moneymaker

Next up, Dark Knight, then Cameron's own Titanic
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jan 17, 2010 1:15 PM CST
Avatar Passes Star Wars as No. 3 Moneymaker
FILE - In this file film publicity image released by 20th Century Fox, the character Neytiri, voiced by Zoe Saldana, right, and the character Jake, voiced by Sam Worthington are shown in a scene from, "Avatar." Cameron's "Avatar" has shot past "Star Wars" to become the No. 3 movie on the all-time domestic...   ((AP Photo/20th Century Fox, File))

James Cameron's Avatar had a $41.3 million weekend to shoot past Star Wars as the No. 3 movie on the all-time domestic box office charts. Next stop, The Dark Knight, then Cameron's own Titanic. No. 1 for the fifth-straight weekend, Cameron's sci-fi saga raised its domestic total to $491.8 million and should top $500 million after revenues are counted on Martin Luther King Day, according to studio estimates.

Worldwide, Avatar lifted its total to $1.6 billion, second only to Cameron's last movie, 1997's Titanic, at $1.8 billion. Avatar topped the original Star Wars, which took in $460.9 million domestically in its original run and several reissues over the years. But factoring in today's higher admission prices, "Star Wars" remains well ahead of "Avatar" on actual number of tickets sold. (More Avatar (film) stories.)

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