Avatar crosses astonishing $2bn in global ticket sales

James Cameron’s space opera enjoyed another dominant overseas foray and stayed top for the seventh consecutive weekend through Fox International following a mere 12% drop. It added an estimated $95m from 1,327 screens in 120 countries to raise the tally to $1.45bn.

Combined with the $594.5m North American tally, Avatar currently stands at $2.044bn and swept past $100m in Germany, the UK and Russia, as it had previously done in France and China. Titanic has been reduced to a historical footnote, bobbing in Avatar’s wake.

The top grossing market was Italy, which in its third weekend generated $10.9m from 906 for $55.7m. Avatar added $9.7m in its fourth weekend in China from 1,413 screens for an extraordinary $126.3m and will soon overtake France – where the film added $7.4m from 761 for $133.9m after seven – as the highest grossing territory.

Staying with the seventh weekend, Fox’s juggernaut added $8.2m in Germany from 693 for $106.7m after a 9% drop; $7.9m in the UK from 745 screens for $104.6m after a 7% drop; and $3.4m in Russia from 419 for $101.2m after a 30% drop.

Avatar will breach the $100m barrier in Japan next weekend after raising the tally there by $6.9m from 604 to $92.1m after six weekends. Others may follow: latest figures put South Korea on $88.5m, Australia on $84.1m, and Spain on $82.7m. Brazil has generated $43.3m, Mexico $37.9m, and Taiwan $23.6m.

Alvin And The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel is closing in on $200m after $10.8m from 4,719 in 45 markets boosted the tally to $1901m. The family release opened in Italy on $2.3m from 353. Another family title, Tooth Fairy, added $5.6m from 2,180 in 20 for $25.2m and has amassed $8.1m in Australia and $5.3m in Mexico after three weekends.

• Sherlock Holmes eased past $200m with a $15.6m haul through Warner Bros Pictures International (WBPI) from 5,400 screens in 57 territories that boosted the tally to $219m.

German audiences braved the ferocious winter and rewarded the film with a number two launch on $4.3m from 675 screens. The action release opened top in Switzerland on $590,000 from 61.

Spain led the holdovers as the super sleuth added $1.8m in the third weekend for $11.6m. Elsewhere the film stands at $37m in the UK, $28.9m in Italy and $21.9m in Australia, all after three weekends, and $16.7m in Russia after four.

Invictus continued to play well in the early stage, adding $9.2m from more than 1,600 screens in 18 markets for $29.1m. The Nelson Mandela drama opened in second place in Spain on $3m from 306 in what may be Clint Eastwood’s biggest ever debut in the country. WBPI will issue final results this week. It launched in third place in Argentina on $218,000 from 41.

After two weekends, Invictus stands at $3.6m in Australia and $1m in Mexico, and in the third weekend it added $3.1m from 480 screens in France for a $16.6m running total.

The Warner Bros Entertainment Italia production Io Loro E Lara continued to play strongly in Italy as it added $850,000 from 360 screens for an excellent $22.2m running total.

• PPI/Paramount-DreamWorks’ redundancy tale Up In The Air grossed $10.5m from 2,580 sites in 37 territories for an early $35m international running total.

The film opened in 11 territories, including a $2.3m number three debut in France from 311 venues. It added $1.6m in its second weekend in Italy from 252 sites for $4.4m and $1.3m in the third weekend in the UK in 337 for $7.6m. Spain has generated $3.6m after two.

The Lovely Bones launched in Japan on $2m from 308 sites and the international cumulative total stands at $10m from two territories. The fantasy drama will continue to roll out overseas throughout February and early March. Cell 211 (Celda 211)added $300,000 from 190 sites in Spain for an excellent $15.4m running total.

• The Princess And The Frog brought in a further $9.6m through Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International (WDSMPI) from 2,800 screens in 32 territories for $78,3m.

It launched in France with an excellent $7.4m from 365 that displaced Avatar after six weekends at the top. The animated film will get a big push next weekend with debuts scheduled for the UK, Spain, Sweden and Benelux.

Sci-fi thriller Surrogates added $1.3m from 750 screens in three markets for $80.7m, and comedy Old Dogs added $1.1m from 1,280 in 32 for $38.6m with the UK set for March 19.

• Universal/UPI’s comedy It’s Complicated grossed $8.1m from 3,100 sites in 37 territories in its sixth weekend for $63.7m. With a further 25 territories still to go, crossing $100m is a real possibility. It launched in Mexico in fourth place on $820,000 from 250 and added $1.7m in the second weekend in Germany from 552 for $5.3m. A $1.6m haul in the UK from 439 raised the tally after four weekends to $11.7m.

TheSerge Gainsbourg biopic - Gainsbourg - moved into its second weekend in France and ranked sixth, grossing $2m from 499 dates for $6.3m.

Couples Retreat used a further $1.3m from 550 in 26 to boost the running total to $58.5m. The comedy opened in fifth place in Spain on $1.1m from 252. There are nine territories to go including France on February 24 and South Korea on February 25. A Serious Man has grossed $5.6m though Universal and launched in Mexico on a solid $42,000 from 15 sites.

• Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs is approaching $100m  and grossed a further $4.2m from 1,443 screens in 21 markets through Sony Pictures Releasing International (SPRI) to reach $94m. The family animation opened in fifth place in Germany on $1.9m from 585 screens.

Romantic comedy Did You Hear About The Morgans? added $4.2 from 2,045 in 41 for an early $36.7m, while a $3.9m number one launch in Russia helped the supernatural action release Legion gross a further $4.8m from 783 in five markets. The early tally stands at $6.2m.

The action adventure The Book Of Elihas taken $1.3m through SPRI in Mexico - the industry-wide tally including Summit International markets will be considerably higher, however Summit had not reported grosses at time of writing - and local language release Friendship! stands at $10.3m from Germany-speaking Europe.