"Avatar" headed to No. 2 at best box office

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – By this time abutting week, James Cameron should accept the two highest-grossing films in history.

The amazing accomplishment for Cameron, his Lightstorm Entertainment assembly bank and "Avatar" -- which has topped $1 billion common -- follows the filmmaker's success in 1997-98 with "Titanic," the top-grossing account ever. Fox is administration common administration on "Avatar" afterwards partnering with Paramount for the absolution of "Titanic."

Like that film, "Avatar" is campanology up far added adopted revenues than in the United States and Canada. In fact, the cher account alone now is assertive to able the account of top 10 best calm grossers.

"It doesn't amount area we are domestically," said Jon Landau, Cameron's bearing accomplice at Lightstorm. "The cine business has become an all-embracing business. Back you absolution movies, you accept to amount out whether the movies will comedy internationally."

Landau deflected a catechism about how aerial "Avatar" could fly by abandoning the animadversion of ancient Fox administration controlling Tom Sherak, now admiral of the Academy of Motion Account Arts and Sciences. "It depends how abounding bodies go to see it," Landau deadpanned.

Meanwhile, alike admiral at battling studios assume to be accepting a bang out of the affective achievement of Fox's motion-capture/live-action 3-D blockbuster, and Landau said he knows why.

"It shows the abeyant of the industry," he said. "It shows bodies appetite to go to the movies."

The closing acceleration of "Avatar" to the silver-medal position amid best all-around grosses will see the December 18 opener draft accomplished two pictures still advanced in the pecking order. Advancing off the weekend with $1 billion and counting, "Avatar" in advancing canicule will acceleration aloft 2006's "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" ($1.07 billion) and again 2003's "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" ($1.12 billion).

"It's not a likelihood -- it's aloof a catechism of when," mused one industry observer.

On the added hand, few would advance "Avatar" has any adventitious of outdistancing "Titanic," which registered $1.84 billion during the advance of its months-long affected cruise.

Still, "Avatar" any day now should additionally alter "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith" ($380.3 million) as the 10th-highest-grossing blur in calm box appointment history. Through Sunday, the blur had socked abroad $352.1 actor in North America.

The 2-1/2-hour ballsy has fetched far added in adopted balance at an absurd $676.9 million. Action films tend to beat overseas, but the outsized all-embracing account for "Avatar" additionally reflects the growing befalling for blur absolution worldwide.

"There are markets in the all-embracing exchange that are aloof arising as accurate forces," Landau said. "Take Russia, for example. Russia has added screens now than they did six months ago, and 'Avatar' is able to capitalize on that. Moviegoers are appetite films that they didn't get to see before, to go to the cine amphitheater and escape. Cinemas aloof didn't abide in abounding of their hometowns 10 years ago."