Avatar sinks Titanic at overseas box office as $107m boosts tally to $1.288bn

Active on approximately 11,800 screens in 111 markets, the film grossed more than $100m for the sixth consecutive weekend and is already ahead of Titanic’s $1.242bn international mark by $46m.

Combined with the $552.8m North American gross, Avatar’s global running total stands at $1.84bn and will overtake Titanic’s $1.842bn on Monday to become the biggest worldwide release in history as it bears down on $2bn.

In another spectacular result in China it added $11.7m from 1,013 screens to cross $100m there, despite losing 1,500 2D screens last week to Confucius. The running total stands at an extraordinary $102.3m after three weeks.

In its second weekend in Italy Avatar added $13.6m for $37.8m. With France already on $123m, several other territories are closing in on the $100m mark: Avatar generated a further $8.9m in Germany for $95.7m, $8m in the UK for $92.9m, and $3.9m in Russia for $95.4m.

The film added $5.7m in Japan for $77.7m, $5.7 in Spain for $76m, $5.2m in Australia for $77.1m, and $4.2m in South Korea for $79.5m. It has become the first non-South Korean film to cross 10m admissions and is now the biggest film of all time in Spain, Australia, Hong Kong and Chile, having previously attained the distinction in China and Russia.

Avatar’s box office in Brazil stands at $39.2m and Mexico has reached $35.5m and it is the third biggest and second biggest films of all time, respectively.

In a statement Fox International co-presidents, Paul Hanneman and Tomas Jegeus said, “Having been a part of the Titanic phenomenon, we never thought this day would come in our careers. But James Cameron created in Avatar a film with such humanity and magic that it reasonates with people of every culture.

“We want to thank the Fox International team around the world who believed in the film and worked tirelessly for the past several years to maximise its potential. We also want to thank the international exhibition community which caught the 3D bug after the success of Ice Age 3 and worked hard to bring this groundbreaking experience to to audiences everywhere.”

Alvin And The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel added $11.6m form approximately 5,000 screens in 60 markets for a $175m international running total.

• Up In The Air is gaining altitude for PPI following an $11m weekend haul from 2,117 sites in 26 territories that raised the drama’s running total to $19.5m.

It opened in 17 new territories this weekend and Spain led the way on $1.8m from 231 locations, followed by a $1.7m number two launch in Italy from 280. Brazil generated $915,000 from 141 locations and Mexico produced $625,000 from 251.

In the UK the film added $2m from 329 for $5.4m, while Australia produced a further $1.1m from 147 for $3.4m.

The Lovely Bones added $406,000 from 222 in its fifth weekend in Australia and New Zealand and stands at $7.6m, while Celda 211 has reached $15.2m in Spain.

• A further $10.5m for Universal/UPI’s It’s Complicated saw the romantic comedy ease past $50m after a relatively short time in action.

Active in 2,900 venues in 32 territories, the film stands at $50.5m with 31 territories still to come. Highlights included a $2.9m number three launch in Germany in 552 and a $700,000 number two launch in Austria in 88.

The UK led a string of solid holdovers as $1.9m in 427 raised the tally to $8.7m after two weekends, $1.5m in Australia in 240 boosted the score to $9.5m after three, and $290,000 in the Netherlands in 90 resulted in $2.8m after five.

The French biopic Serge Gainsbourg, co-produced by Focus Features International, opened in third place in France on $3.7m in 499. A Serious Man has grossed $5.1m from Universal territories, Cirque Du Freak stands at $14.6m, and Couples Retreat has reached $57.1m with 11 territories to go.

• Sony Pictures Releasing International’s (SPRI) romantic comedy Did You Hear About The Morgans? added $5.6m from 2,220 screens in 29 territories for a $31m overseas running total. It opened in the top five in France on $1.8m from 321.

Friendship earned a further $3.1m in Germany and Austria for $7.8M, $7.5m of which comes form Germany. Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs stands at $89.4m.

The supernatural horror release Legion opened in three Asian territories day-and-date with North America, taking $1.1m from 150 screens. SPRI opened Nine in Australia on $735,000 from 133 screens.

• Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International’s sci-fi thriller Surrogates opened in Japan and German-speaking Europe, registering $3.7m for the weekend from 600 screens in five territories for $78.3m overall.

The Princess And The Frog added $3m from 2,725 sites in 28 territories for $67.3m. Old Dogs earned another $1.8m from 1,200 in 24 for $36.3m.

• The Book Of Eli added more than $4.2m through Summit International from 1,376 venues in four markets and has reached an early $10m running total.