Movie

The James Cameron's big-budget movie took in a worldwide gross total of 236.2 million dollars, which was claimed as the 'highest-grossing nonfranchise, nonsequel opening ever.'

• Dec 21, 2009

AceShowbiz - James Cameron's "Avatar" has shown its domination on North American Box Office by collecting $77 million in its first weekend, making it sitting on the top spot. According to Slash Film, it took in a worldwide gross total of $242 million, which was the "highest-grossing nonfranchise, nonsequel opening ever."

Commenting on the performance of the Sam Worthington-starring sci-fi in its debut, co-president of Fox Theatrical International Paul Hanneman said, "We are off to a great start." Additionally, he believed "Avatar" grosses will stand firmly in the coming weeks, claiming "We played 106 markets, and we were No. 1 in all of them."

Meanwhile, last week's winner Disney's animation "The Princess and the Frog" dropped 49.7|percent| in ticket sales, making it only securing the second place with $12.2 million haul. On the third position was Sandra Bullock's "The Blind Side", which raked in an additional $10 million. So far, the football drama has collected $164.7 million domestically.

Rounding up the top five were "Did You Hear About the Morgans?" and "The Twilight Saga's New Moon". The Sarah Jessica Parker-starring comedy romance took in $6.6 million in its first weekend, while the latest installment of "Twilight" film series grabbed onto $4.4 million in the fifth week for a total of $274.6 million.

Top Ten Movies at Box Office for December 18-20:

1. "Avatar" - $77 million
2. "The Princess and the Frog" - $12.2 million
3. "The Blind Side" - $10 million
4. "Did You Hear About the Morgans?" - $6.6 million
5. "The Twilight Saga's New Moon" - $4.4 million
6. "Invictus" - $4.2 million
7. "A Christmas Carol (2009)" - $3.4 million
8. "Up in the Air" - $3.2 million
9. "Brothers" - $2.6 million
10. "Old Dogs" - $2.3 million