Avatar speeds to record box office takings
Avatar speeds to record box office takings
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Monday, 04, Jan 2010 03:06
By Lewis Bazley.
James Cameron's Avatar has reached the $1 billion (£625.6 million) mark at the worldwide box office in record time.
The sci-fi epic is now the fourth highest grossing film of all time, having earned over $350 million (£217 million) in the US and more than $670 million (£415 million) globally in just 17 days.
Though Avatar is believed to be the most expensive film ever made, with a budget of over $300 million (£186 million), only Titanic ($1.8 billion; £1.1 billion), The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King ($1.12 billion; £695 million) and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest ($1.07 billion; £664 million) have earned more at the worldwide box office.
"This is like a freight train out of control," remarked 20th Century Fox distribution executive Bert Livingston. "It just keeps on going.
"I think everybody has to see Avatar once, even people who don't normally go to the movies, they've heard about it and are saying, 'I have to see it'," he added.
"Then there are those people seeing it multiple times."
Starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana and Sigourney Weaver and set in the 22nd century, Avatar tells of a paralysed marine (Worthington) who inhabits a remote-controlled body to ingratiate himself with the natives of an alien planet.