‘Avatar’ Earns $73 Million On Opening Weekend

James Cameron’s “Avatar” didn’t set the record for the biggest opening in history, but did pull in $73 million domestically.

A breakdown of the “Avatar” debut weekend:

• The best December opening still belongs to “I Am Legend,” which pulled in $77.2 million in 2005
• “Avatar” might have had a better domestic opening had it not been for the massive snowstorm pummeling the Northeast, which kept moviegoers – and everyone else – home for the weekend
• The global take for “Avatar” was $230 million globally
• Of the 3,452 theaters showing “Avatar,” 2,032 were showing the film in 3D
• Movies can generally expect to earn four times its opening weekend gross, but movies released at the end of the year traditionally earn five or six times that number

The new releases on the weekend were, predictably, left in the dust: “…Did You Hear About The Morgans?” earned an estimated $7 million, good enough for fourth place; “Nine” ($61,000 on each of its four screens), “The Young Victoria” ($148,000 total on 20 screens) and “Crazy Heart” ($21,050 on each of its four screens) all did well in limited release.

Meanwhile, “The Princess and the Frog” earned the runner-up spot, bringing in $12.2 million in its second week. The return to hand-drawn animation continues to garner good word-of-mouth, and Disney hopes the movie will continue to perform well through the holidays.

Here’s the top five films, courtesy of BoxOfficeMojo.com:

WEEKEND TOP 5 STUDIO ESTIMATES, DECEMBER 18-20, 2009

Rank. Movie Title (Distributor)
Weekend Gross | Theaters | Total Gross | Week #

1. Avatar (Fox)
$73.0 million | 3,452 | $73.0 million | 1

2. The Princess and the Frog (Buena Vista)
$12.2 million | 3,475 | $44.8 million | 4

3. The Blind Side (Warner Bros.)
$10.0 million | 3,407 | $164.7 million | 5

4. Did You Hear About the Morgans? (Sony / Columbia)
$7.0 million | 2,718 | $7.0 million | 1

5. The Twilight Saga: New Moon (Summit Entertainment)
$4.4 million | 3,035 | $274.6 million | 5