Ten out of ten for Avatar as $51m raises tally to $1.78bn

An estimated $51m haul from 7,600 screens in 71 markets through Fox International pushed the running total to $1.78bn. James Cameron’s space opera became the biggest release in history in Mexico, where $608,049 from 380 raised the tally to $42.5m and dislodged Fox’s Ice Age 3 from its perch.

Minimal drops all round delivered another sterling weekend, with France and China neck-and-neck in the contest for biggest overseas territory. France leads by a whisker thanks to a further $6.3m from 529 that elevated the running total to $165.1m after ten weekends. China added $3.6m from 792 for $164.4m after seven.

Elsewhere Avatar added $5.7m in Germany from 544 for $134m, $4.6m in the UK from 408 for $134.9m, $4.6m in Japan from 529 for $131.9m after nine weekends, and $4.3m in Italy from 486 for $85.7m after six. Australia is on the cusp of $100m after $1.4m from 254 raised the tally to $95.4m.

Combined with the $687.8m North American tally, Avatar’s global cumulative total currently stadns at $2.47bn.

Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief finished the weekend as the second biggest international performer, adding $23.3m from 6,643 in 52 for a highly promising $67.9m after two weekends. Opening in 13 markets, the family adventure took $2.1m in Spain from 424 and $554,659 in Greece from 81.

France led the holdover markets, delivering $2.7m from 561 for $7.7m, followed by the UK’s $2.4m from 458 for $8.4m. Germany produced $1.9m from 657 for $5.5m and South Korea generated $1.5m from 306 for $7.3m.

My Name Is Khan continued to perform well in its second weekend, adding $5.6m from 1,471 in 12 for an excellent $25.2m. It stayed top in India as $3.6m from 1,250 raised the tally to a truly exceptional $18.6m after two weekends, while the biggest second weekend in the UK for a Bollywood film resulted in $742,175 from 95 for $3.2m.

Alvin & The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel added $3.7m from 3,500 in 30 for $215m. Fox International Productions’ Hot Summer Days added $2.4m from 1,278 in China and Hong Kong for $10.4m. The film grossed a further $1.1m in China from 1,250 to reach $10.1m. Next weekend’s debuts include Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia.

Fantastic Mr Fox opened in France on $977,000 from 147 and stands at $21.6m internationally. Tooth Fairy has extracted $36.4m, and Crazy Heart has reached an early $381,377 from four territories.

• Valentine’s Day added $23m through Warner Bros Pictures International from more than 5,100 screens in 58 territories to reach $71.3m. The romantic comedy launched top in France on $5.3m from 408, and opened third in Brazil on $1.1m from 153. In its second weekend in the UK the film added $2.6m from 503 for $12.2m and grossed the same amount in Australia from 373 for $10.5m.

Sherlock Holmes added $6m from 3,363 in 47 for $266m, while Invictus grossed $4.8m from 2,200 in 29 for $63m.

• Universal’s The Wolfman chewed a $16m chunk out of the international box office in its second weekend at large. Active in 4,957 sites in 52 territories, the film has raced to $46.7m through UPI.

It opened in 15 markets led by a $2.4m second place launch in Italy in 366 venues that ranked only behind Avatar. Portugal, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Turkey, Ukraine, Indonesia and Singapore opened all delivered top three rankings.

The highest market was once again Mexico, where the horror story held on to top spot as $2.1m from 489 boosted the cumulative total to $7.1m. A further $1.3m in the UK from 411 pushed the total to $6.6m, while $1.2m in Spain form 405 elevated the tally to $4.5m.

It’sComplicated added $3.3m from 2,086 in 41 territories for $84.4m. The romantic comedy debuted in Japan on $1.3m (¥114m) from 286 venues in second place behind Avatar

• The Princess And The Frog pulled in a further $12.1m from 3,397 screens in 40 territories through Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International for $131.5m. The animated hit barely registered any drop-offs and added $4.1m from 697 in France during the school holidays for $23.1m after one month.

UK schoolchildren and their parents on half-term break rewarded the film with a further $2.8m from 502 to raise the tally to $14m after three weekends. The Princess And The Frog grossed $1.6m in Spain from 403 for $8.7m after three, and $1.4m in Benelux from 223 for $4.3m after three.

Romantic comedy When In Rome added opened in Russia on $900,000 from 264 and has amassed a little over $2m internationally.

• Fresh off its world premiere launch out of competition in Berlin, Paramount’s Shutter Island opened day-and-date with the number one North American debut, grossing $4.5m through PPI from 462 sites in seven territories. The combined international weekend gross amounted to $9.1m.

Martin Scorsese directs Leonardo DiCaprio in the thriller, which took $2.5m in Australia from 213, outperforming Scorsese’s The Departedby 32%. In other key results, Shutter Island took $454,000 in Sweden from 55, $419,000 in Norway from 47, $366,000 in Denmark from 35, and $189,000 in New Zealand from 43.

Notable results from non-Paramount markets included a chart-topping $3.4m gross in Spain and $1.3m from Russia.

The Lovely Bones arrived in 15 new markets this weekend and grossed $7.2m from 2,574 venues in 21 territories to reach $25.4m. Peter Jackson’s drama took $2.7m in the UK from 422 locations, $1m in Germany from 318, $700,000 in Mexico from 352, $5776,000 in Brazil from 164, $121,000 in Austria from 43, and $90,000 in Argentina from 54.

WGA best adapted screenplay winner and multi-BAFTA nominee Up In The Airtook a further $4m from 1,976 sites in 48 territories to stand at $65m.

• Sony Pictures Releasing International’s Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs remains active on 1,470 screens in 21 markets and used $3.2m to raise the tally to $107.7m.

The Dutch launch drew €370,000 ($545,000) from 80 or roughly double the combined launches in Euros of Open Season and Surf’s Up.

There were strong holds in Germany, where $1.1m from 564 raised the running total to $7.2m after four weekends, and South Korea, where $905,000 from 256 elevated the tally to $3.2m after two.

Did You Hear About The Morgans? added $1.9m from 900 in 48 for $47.3m. The romantic comedy opened in Italy on $1.2m from 231.