‘Dear John’ overtakes ‘Avatar’ at weekend box office
By IANSMonday, February 8, 2010
LONDON - After seven weeks and over $630 million in US domestic box office, the “Avatar” magic is over; it has been knocked over by romantic movie “Dear John”, starring Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfriend, during the Super Bowl weekend release.
According to imdb.com, “Dear John”, Hollywood’s fifth adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’ novel, proved to be a far more formidable opponent than anyone expected, bringing in an estimated $32.4 million in its 2,969 locations.
That’s a per-screen average of $10,900 - good enough to help “Dear John” become the all-time US domestic box office champ for a Super Bowl weekend release.
“Avatar” probably hasn’t fared badly this weekend. Last Tuesday, the film crossed the final achievement off of its box office to-do list, replacing “Titanic” as the all-time leader at the US domestic box office with an astounding $601 million earned in just 47 days.
It took “Titanic” more than 250 days to reach its domestic high of $600.8 million back in 1998 - though when inflation, higher 3D ticket prices and estimated theatre attendance is factored in, “Titanic” still looks pretty unsinkable.
