‘Avatar’ Continues Box Office Stranglehold In Seventh Week
Just when you thought there wasn’t another box office record for “Avatar” to break: the James Cameron flick now holds the record for highest-grossing movie in its seventh week of release, after it brought in an estimated $30 million.
It’s chief competition, the new Mel Gibson action noir “Edge Of Darkness,” came in second with a disappointing $17.1 million. Studios had hoped for a stronger debut from the film, looking at the performance of Liam Neeson’s “Taken” released at the same time last year. It’s the lowest opening weekend figure for a Mel Gibson-starred vehicle since “Braveheart” bowed with $9.9 million (in 1,000 fewer theaters) in 1995.
Romantic comedy “When In Rome” debuted in third place with an estimated $12.5 million.
Here’s the Top Five estimates, courtesy of BoxOfficeMojo.com:
| TW | LW | Title (Studio) | Weekend Gross | % Change | Average | Total Gross | Budget* | Week # |
| 1 | 1 | Avatar (Fox) | $30,000,000 | -14.1% | $9,759 | $594,472,000 | - | 7 |
| 2 | N | Edge of Darkness (WB) | $17,120,000 | - | $5,584 | $17,120,000 | $80 | 1 |
| 3 | N | When in Rome (BV) | $12,065,000 | - | $4,912 | $12,065,000 | - | 1 |
| 4 | 4 | The Tooth Fairy (Fox) | $10,000,000 | -28.6% | $2,990 | $26,106,000 | $48 | 2 |
| 5 | 3 | The Book of Eli (WB) | $8,770,000 | -44.3% | $2,852 | $74,373,000 | $80 | 3 |
