Avatar crosses $1bn overseas, sets sights on Titanic's record

James Cameron’s sci-fi adventure stood at $979m by the close of Wednesday and based on current weekday averages of roughly $20m a day it will certainly push past $1bn by Friday.

Avatar is the second highest grossing overseas release in history and looks odds-on to overhaul Titanic’s $1.24bn final tally to become the biggest international release of all time.

Titanic finished on $1.842bn globally while Avatar is running at $1.42bn. Last weekend it gained more than 5% on the previous weekend and should have little trouble retaining its crown with a big anticipated second weekend in China as well as other mighty holds.

• Sony Pictures Releasing International’s (SPRI) Did You Hear About The Morgans? has reached and arrives this weekend in Mexico and India. 2012 stands at $600.1m, while Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs has grossed $86.5m.

SPRI release the local German production Friendships in Germany and Austria as well as local Chinese production Jump in Singapore.

• Warner Bros Pictures International’s Sherlock Holmes stands at $142m and opens in Spain on January 15, and the Italian production Io Loro E Lara is doing very well on $13.8m after a little over one week.
  
  
• Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International’s The Princess And The Frog on $45m opens in Poland, while A Christmas Carolstands at $182m, Old Dogs $25.5m, and Up $123.9m.
  
  
• Universal/UPI’s It’s Complicated opens in eight territories including Russia and Singapore on January 14 and has reached $26.9m.
  
  
• Meanwhile PPI launches Jason Reitman’s hot awards contender Up In The Air in nine including Australia, Russia, the Netherlands and New Zealand on January 15, and the UK and Sweden on January 15. Case 39 touches down in India on January 15.
  
• Summit International launches Book Of Eli in the UK and CIS day-and-date with North America, while Astro Boylaunches in South Korea and Colombia.