'Avatar' replacing 'Titanic'

[HamptonEdwards]

"Avatar" was on the cusp of replacing "Titanic" as the biggest movie of all time after it logged a sixth consecutive weekend as the top choice of moviegoers worldwide, distributor 20th Century Fox said on Sunday.

The total for James Cameron's sci-fi spectacular rose to $1.841 billion, just shy of the seemingly insurmountable $1.843 billion racked up by the director's "Titanic" in 1997-1998.

Already "Avatar" claimed the all-time international total with sales to date of $1.288 billion, eclipsing the $1.242 billion haul of "Titanic."

In North America, it may have to wait another two weeks to sail past the $601 million total of "Titanic," the News Corp -owned studio said. Moviegoers in North America and Canada have chipped in $552.8 million, enough to replace 2008's "The Dark Knight" ($533 million) as the second-biggest movie of all time.

Data are not adjusted for inflation, and "Avatar" ticket sales got an additional boost from premium pricing for 3-D screenings. Imax Corp said its big-screen engagements have sold a record $134 million worth of tickets worldwide.

The biggest movie of all time in North America -- adjusted for inflation -- is 1939's "Gone with the Wind," with sales of almost $1.5 billion, according to tracking firm Box Office Mojo. "Avatar" ranks at No. 26 by that measure.

During the latest weekend, "Avatar" earned $36 million in North America and $107 million internationally, far outpacing other offerings.

It was trailed in North America by Screen Gems' new supernatural action thriller "Legion" at No. 2 with $18.2 million, while Warner Bros' Denzel Washington drama "The Book of Eli" slipped to No. 3 with $17 million in its second weekend. Screen Gems is a unit of Sony Corp, and Warner Bros is a unit of Time Warner Inc.

Two other films opened in the top-10: Fox's Dwayne Johnson family film "The Tooth Fairy" at No. 4 with a promising $14.5 million, and nascent studio CBS Films' Harrison Ford medical drama "Extraordinary Measures" at No. 7 with a disappointing $7 million.