“Avatar” Grosses $242.5 Million on Opening Weekend!

By Jimmy Rogers (@me)
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

The title really says it all, but there are some other interesting details to share. Avatar, the big hit movie that has everyone talking, really scored big time as opening weekends go.  According to the latest numbers by 20th Century Fox, Avatar earned $77.0 million in America and $165.5 million in the rest of the world (106 countries).  This all adds up to $242.5 million across the world in its first weekend.

These numbers blow away several records, causing Fox to refer to claim Avatar’s first three days as the “highest original content (non-sequel, non-franchise) opening weekend ever.” It now hold the record for:

• Best Ever Debut for James Cameron (the film’s director)
• Widest Release of a 3D Film
• Best Ever Debut of a 3D Film
• A Record Sale of $9.5 Million in IMAX Theaters (US Domestic)
• Very High Ratings on Several Demographic Polling Resources

For more complete (but somewhat jumbled) numbers, check out this article on Deadline Hollywood.

Personally I saw Avatar 3D the night it came out (braving heavily falling snow, I might add!) and was stunned by the quality of the 3D, the fantastic CGI, and the moving story.

Did every everybody else love it like I did?  What format did you see?  Do you think it will stand the test of time or will it turn out to be a quickly-forgotten spectacle?

[via Digg]