This weekend Avatar continued to dominate the box office worldwide, leaving it poised to overtake Titanic as the most lucrative movie at the box office worldwide sometime today (Monday).
It grossed another $36 million in the U.S. and Canada, and an additional $107 million overseas, bringing its worldwide total to $1.841 billion. That's just $2 million away from passing the $1.843-billion worldwide gross record set by Titanic in 1998.
But with 12 years of ticket price inflation and the fact that Avatar is benefitting from premium charges placed on tickets for 3D screenings, it still lags far behind Titanic in attendance record. Although it's near impossible to compare exact attendance figures, there are a couple interesting indicators. Box Office Mojo publishes a list of top films at the US box office adjusted according to inflation, which places Avatar in 26 position; even Titanic is only sixth with 1939's Gone With The Wind taking the number one honours.
Meanwhile, the LA Times reckons that, "Avatar has sold fewer than 70 million tickets in the U.S. and Canada; Titanic sold more than 125 million", comparing the 1998 average price of a ticket ($4.69) with the average price today ($7.46).
Having said all that, Avatar is far from a spent force at the box office. With its surprisingly small drop in audiences week-on-week, who knows how many people may end up seeing it by the time it's finished its run. Declines were 25% or less in every major market around the world (except China, where "Avatar" ticket sales fell 34% after the government unexpectedly yanked it off of every 2D screen where it was playing this week). if Cameron's movies keeps experiencing such minuscule drops each weekend - and there's no reason it shouldn't - Avatar could be one of the most-viewed movies ever as well.
