Alice in Wonderland was finally defeated at the weekend box office by Dreamwork’s animated feature How to Train Your Dragon. Alice had dominated the top spot for three weeks making over $290 million and becoming the years highest grossing film thus far. The higher ticket prices for 3D features certainly helped Alice bank the cash it has since it opened, and these same ticket prices are to thank for How to Train Your Dragon’s $43.3 million opening weekend. While not as high as Alice’s $117 million opening, Dragon did make enough to secure the number one spot, but with Clash of the Titans hitting theaters next week (in 3D also) it may not have a very long run at the number one spot. For a full breakdown of the weekend box office continue reading.

Falling to the number two spot this weekend was Alice in Wonderland which managed to rake in another $17.3 million bringing its three week total to a whopping $293.1 million. Alice has become the highest grossing film for director Tim Burton, and by next weekend the film will have crossed the $300 million mark in domestic box office tickets.

The other new wide release this weekend was the comedy Hot Tub Time Machine starring John Cusack which performed below expectations with only $13.6 million for opening weekend. With fairly positive reviews, the comedy didn’t draw in a Hangover kind of audience, despite the comedic comparisons. After seeing Hot Tub Time Machine, I can tell you that it is no Hangover.

The number four spot went to The Bounty Hunter starring Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler. With another $12.4, Bounty Hunter has only managed to pull in $38.8 million.

Last weeks surprise success is the number five movie this week. The kids movie Diary of a Whimpy Kid made $10 million which gives the flick a total of $35 million. Not bad for a budget of only $15 million.

Below is a list of the top ten highest grossing films at the North American box office for the weekend of March 26-28th

1. How To Train Your Dragon- $43,300,000; $43,300,000

2. Alice In Wonderland- $17,300,000; $293,100,000

3. How Tub Time Machine- $13,650,000; $13,650,000

4. The Bounty Hunter- $12,400,000; $38,812,000

5. Diary Of A Wimpy Kid- $10,000,000; $35,776,000

6. She’s Out Of My League- $3,526,000; $25,601,000

7. Green Zone- $3,350,000; $30,440,000

8. Shutter Island- $3,175,000; $120,600,000

9. Repo Men- $3,048,000; $11,342,000

10. Our Family Wedding- $2,200,000; $16,785,000

*First number indicates weekend gross. Second number is cumulative total since opening.

For three weeks in a row Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland has dominated the box office charts. With another $34.5 million this weekend, Alice’s grand total stands at a whopping $226.8 million, making it the highest grossing film ever for director Tim Burton. Starring Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, and Helena Bonham Carter, Alice in Wonderland is playing in IMAX 3D as well as Digitial 3D where the high price premium tickets are helping this film make the big bucks. After Avatar grossed over $2 billion worldwide, and Alice has kept IMAX flying high, we can all assume most big movies hitting theaters will be in 3D format.

There were a few other movies that hit theaters this weekend. None of which came close to touch Alice’s number one spot. Diary of a Whimpy Kid, based on he novel by Jeff Kinley, Whimpy Kid was a big hit for spring break, bringing in $21.8 million over the weekend. Since most everyone has now seen Alice in Wonderland, this was a good alternative for families. Next weekend awaits the arrival of Dreamwork’s How to Train Your Dragon, which should be another big hit for kids.

The number three movie this weekend went to Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler’s comedy The Bounty Hunter, which despite terrible reviews, managed to make $21 million. Look for this movie to drop off pretty quickly in the coming weeks.

Another new movie that failed miserably at finding an audience was Repo Men. The action movie starring Jude Law only drummed up $6.1 million worth of ticket sales for the number four spot

Rounding out the top five was the comedy She’s Out of My League which made $6 million in its second week of release.

Next week the box office will see two very different movies hit theaters. The comedy Hot Tub Time Machine and the animated kids movie How to Train Your Dragon arrive on March 26th.

Below is a list of the top 10 movies at the North American box office for the weekend of March 19th-21st:

1. Alice In Wonderland- $34,500,000; ($265,800,000)

2. Diary of a Wimpy Kid- $21,800,000; ($21,800,000)

3. The Bounty Hunter- $21,000,000; ($21,000,000)

4. Repo Men- $6,151,000, ($6,151,000)

5. She’s Out of My League- $6,015,000; ($19,954,000)

6. Green Zone- $5,963,000; ($24,702,000)

7. Shutter Island- $4,755,000; ($115,770,000)

8. Avatar- $4,000,000; ($736,881,000)

9. Our Family Wedding- $3,800,000; ($13,668,000)

10. Remember Me- $3,300,000; ($13,900,000)

Box Office numbers courtesy of Box Office Mojo

The collaboration of Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio is a success, yet again. Their new film, Shutter Island, opened to $41 million this weekend which is a record breaking opening for the Oscar winning director. Scorsese scored his biggest opening ever with Shutter Island, and this movie goes to show how successful the Scorsese DiCaprio team really is. For those who may not remember, Shutter Island was originally scheduled for release last October, but was pushed back until February of this year to allow more time and money for marketing. Clearly that worked out.

Shutter Island marks the highest opening weekend for Scorsese and the highest opening for the DiCaprio Scorsese team who have previously collaborated on The Departed, Gangs of New York, and The Aviator.

It was still a strong weekend at the weekend box office even with only one major release. Here is how the rest of the weekend played out:

Last weekends champ, the romantic comedy, Valentine’s Day, took an expected nose dive this weekend. The ensemble film dropped 70% for a weekend gross of $16.6 million for the number two spot. After two weeks V-Day has earned $86.9 million.

The third place went to Avatar (which was #4 last week) with another $16.2 million. After 10 weeks Avatar has made $687.9 million. After next weekend the film will have crossed the $700 million mark – and that is just at the domestic box office!

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief dropped to fourth place with $15 million. It’s total gross so far is $58.7 million.

The Wolfman rounded out the top five with $9.8 million. Another big drop from last weekends record breaking weekend.

The February box office has been on fire the last couple weeks. It will most likely see a drop next weekend with the R-rated flicks Cop Out and The Crazies. But the week after that Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland drops and should once again pull in big numbers.

Below is the full list of the top 10 earners at the weekend box office:

1. “Shutter Island,” $40.2 million.

2. “Valentine’s Day,” $17.2 million.

3. “Avatar,” $16.1 million.

4. “Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief,” $15.3 million.

5. “The Wolfman,” $9.8 million.

6. “Dear John,” $7.3 million.

7. “Tooth Fairy,” $4.5 million.

8. “Crazy Heart,” $3 million.

9. “From Paris With Love,” $2.5 million.

10. “Edge of Darkness,” $2.2 million.

Box Office numbers courtesy of Box Office Mojo

Love was in the air this weekend at movie theaters across the country as the ensemble romantic comedy Valentine’s Day was a smash hit grossing $66.8 million over the holiday weekend. Clearly those behind Valentine’s Day knew they had a very easy movie to market as Sunday was…..gasp! you guessed it, Valentine’s Day. It didn’t hurt the movie either that Monday was President’s Day, so the majority of movie goers were not at work or school. $66.8  million easily broke the President’s Day weekend record, previously held by 2007′s Ghost Rider ($52 million.) Also opening this weekend was The Wolfman and Percy Jackson which fared well with $36.4 million and $38.7 million respectively. Continue reading for a full break down of the weekend box office.

Clearly the number one spot this weekend went to Valentine’s Day with a three day haul of $56.4 million, and a four day weekend total of $66.8 million, V-Day was as forced to be reckoned with. However it wasn’t the only movie to make a dent in the box office.

The number two movie of the weekend was the family friendly film Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightening Thief which pulled in $38.7 million Friday-Monday.

Number three belonged to the horror movie remake The Wolfman which grossed $36.4 million despite terrible reviews and a delayed release date.

Avatar held strong at number four with $23.5 million which is actually an increase for the movie from last week when it fell to number two losing to Dear John. After nine weeks Avatar has made $661 million.

The fifth slot went to last weeks champ Dear John which banked once again on the romantic weekend with $16 million.

North American top 10, 12-14 February:
1. Valentine’s Day, $52.4m.
2. Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief, $31.1m.
3. The Wolfman, $30.6m
4. Avatar, $22m. Total: $659.6m
5. Dear John, $15.3m. Total: $53.2m
6. Tooth Fairy, $5.6m. Total: $41.5m
7. From Paris With Love, $4.7m. Total: $15.9m
8. Edge of Darkness, $4.6m. Total: $36.1m
9. Crazy Heart, $4m. Total: $16.5m
10. When in Rome, $3.4m. Total: $26m.

Box Office numbers courtesy of Box Office Mojo

For seven weeks Avatar was the top dog at the box office. That was until Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried dropped a romance called Dear John into theaters and teen girls everywhere went to see it. For the last two months Avatar has had little competition at box office and has been the number one movie since it was released on December 18th. This weekend I thought Avatar would make it eight weeks without a struggle ( I actually lost a bet on this); however I apparently underestimate the power of a Nicolas Spark’s novel and a Channing Tatum fan base. Dear John managed to pull in a whopping $30.4 million which is the highest Super Bowl weekend gross of all time. Avatar may have came in second place but it did so at a respectable $22.8 million. Keep reading for a full breakdown of the weekend box office.

Avatar was the favorite going into the weekend to make it eight weeks at number one. That was until Dear John made $13.7 million on Friday. At this point it was clear Avatar was not going to make it to number one. It didn’t help that it was Super Bowl weekend and that Sunday was going to be a day that mostly women would be at the movies.

If it wasn’t for Dear John’s huge Friday numbers Avatar would have gone number one again. Avatar beat John both Saturday and Sunday in the box office race.

The rest of the weekend box office looked like this:

John Travolta failed to find an audience with his action flick From Paris with Love. Directed by Taken’s Pierre Morel, Paris was a box office bomb.

Mel Gibson’s Edge of Darkness dropped to number four with $6.85 million. After two weeks of release Darkness has grossed $28.9 million.

The fifth spot went to The Tooth Fairy which brought in another $6.6 million over the weekend.

Here is a list of the top ten films at the weekend box office:

1 – Dear John (Sony) – $32.40 ($10,913) – $32.40
2 – Avatar (Fox) – $23.60 ($7,867) – $630.09
3 – From Paris with Love (Fox) – $8.12 ($2,983) – $8.12
4 – Edge of Darkness (Warner Bros.) – $7.01 ($2,285) – $29.10
5 – The Tooth Fairy (Fox) – $6.50 ($2,020) – $34.33
6 – When in Rome (Disney) – $5.50 ($2,241) – $20.90
7 – The Book of Eli (Warner Bros.) – $4.84 ($1,715) – $82.16
8 – Crazy Heart (Fox Searchlight) – $3.65 ($4,457) – $11.19
9 – Legion (Screen Gems) – $3.40 ($1,454) – $34.68
10 – Sherlock Holmes (Warner Bros.) – $2.63 ($1,457) – $201.58

Next weekend should see some big money makers with the arrival of The Wolfman, Valentine’s Day, and Percey Jackson. Check back next Monday for our weekend wrap up of the weekend box office.

Source: Box Office Mojo

If your sick of hearing about how Avatar is breaking all these box office records, then this will probably be one of the last articles we run on the matter. That’s because Avatar has now broken the last big record it had yet to accomplish: highest grossing movie of all time. On Tuesday, Avatar topped Titanic as the highest grossing film ever with over $600 million in domestic box office tickets. If James Cameron was “King of the World” after Titanic’s record-breaking run, then I am not sure what self-inflicted title he will give himself this time around. The man is the mastermind behind the two highest grossing films of all time, so the recognition is warranted. So, how far will Titanic go? Keep reading for our take on it.

On Tuesday Avatar sat at $601.14 million which is just a hair past Titanic which held the record for thirteen years with $600.7 million. In 2008 it appeared that The Dark Knight may have the power to knock Titanic down but it stalled out at an impressive $533 million as the second highest grossing film ever.

The big question now is how far can Avatar go? The movie will be entering its eighth week of release this weekend and should have no problem once again being the number one movie at the box office. As the film shows no signs of really slowing down, it should have no problem crossing $700 million. It is continually breaking the record, week after week, for the highest gross for that week of release. With week number eight coming up I would say it is safe to say Avatar should pull in another $20-25 million. The nine Oscar nominations are only going to push more people into the theater who have yet to see it.

How much do you think Avatar will make? Leave your thoughts below.

Continuing its reign of terror on the box office, Avatar has now made it seven weeks at number one. Grossing $31 million this past weekend, Avatar only dropped 10% from the previous weekend, and is now less than $7 million away from topping Titanic as the highest grossing film of all time. Even with competition from Mel Gibson’s Edge of Darkness and the romantic comedy When in Rome, Avatar could once again, not be touched. With a domestic gross of $594 million and a worldwide sum of $2 billion Avatar shows no signs of slowing down.

After crossing the $2 billion mark, Avatar became the first movie in history to reach that milestone. By Tuesday, or Wednesday at the latest, Avatar will have passed Titanic in domestic box office sales with over $600 million. I would say the way Avatar has been riding strong, it should have no problem crossing $700 million. These kind of numbers just blow my mind because when you think about it you realize – it is just a movie!

Here is how the rest of the weekend box office ended up:

Mel Gibson returned to the silver screen for the first time since 2002′s Signs. Although Edge of Darkness wasn’t a huge opener, it was a strong debut for the R rated revenge drama, which opened with $17.2 million.

The romantic comedy When in Romeopened at third place with $12.3 million. The movie stars Kirsten Bell and Josh Duhamel.

The fourth spot went to The Tooth Fairy which in its second week grossed $9.9 million. Its total gross to date is $26 million.

Denzel Washington’s The Book of Eli took in $8.9 million which put its total gross at $74.5 million.

Below is the top 10 movies at the weekend box office:

1 Avatar $30,000,000 ( $594.4)

2 Edge of Darkness $17,120,000 ($17.1)

3 When in Rome $12,065,000 ($12)

4 Tooth Fairy $10,000,000 ($26.1)

5 Book of Eli $8,770,000 ($74.3)

6 Legion $6,800,000 ($28.6)

7 Lovely Bones $4,735,000 ($38)

8 Sherlock Holmes $4,510,000 ($197.5)

9 Alvin & the Chipmunks 2 $4,000,000 ($209.2)

10 It’s Complicated $3,720,000 ($104)

Following the success of James Cameron’s Avatar has become one of the most interesting stories in box office history. Most importantly because it will soon become the highest grossing film in history as it takes aim at Cameron’s other big film, Titanic. This weekend Avatar made it six straight weekends at number one and on Saturday surpassed The Dark Knight to become the second highest grossing movie of all time. And today we are able to report that Avatar has now topped Titanic internationally to become the highest grossing film worldwide. Continue reading for a full break down of this weekends box office results.

Since its release on December 18th, Avatar has remained at number one at the box office for six consecutive weeks. Passing Titanic as the highest grossing film worldwide is an incredible feat for director James Cameron who may not be “king of the world,” but he is undeniably king of the box office. Avatar will soon top the domestic gross of Titanic as the highest grossing movie domestically. Titanic has held the record since its release in 1997 with $600 million. Currently Avatar sits at $551 million and counting. The movie shows no signs of slowing down and to its advantage, the film has virtually no competition on the horizon. Movies like Legion, Extraordinary Measures, and The Tooth Fairy all challenged Avatar but failed miserably this past weekend at the box office.

Legion was the most successful (which is unfortunate because the movie is garbage.) Grossing $17.5 million opening weekend Legion came in at number two.

Close behind was last weekend’s number two movie, The Book of Eli, which fell only 52% making another $15.7 million. After two weeks of release Eli has earned a strong $60.7 million.

The Tooth Fairy which is the latest kids flick from former wrestler turned actor The Rock opened at number four with $14 million.

The number five spot went to Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones which brought in $8.4 million.

The other new wide release of the weekend was the Harrison Ford, Brenden Frasier medical drama Extraordinary Measures which opened with a dismal $6 million for an eighth place finish.

It is exciting to report how successful Avatar has become The film will undoubtedly surpass Titanic on the domestic box office in the coming weeks and will eventually cross the $2 billion mark as well. While some people will say the reason for its success is the added expense of a 3D movie ticket, the film has clearly shows it has legs. 3D or no 3D the film is dominating all box office records and will continue to do so for weeks to come.

Oh man is the box office on fire! James Cameron’s Avatar is showing no signs of slowing down as it has now crossed $500 million at the domestic box office. Avatar now stands only $28 million away from passing The Dark Knight (#2 all time) and less than $100 million from that other James Cameron movie (Titanic at #1.) Can it do it? Absolutely. For the fifth straight weekend Avatar has held the number one spot and with less than appealing movies coming out next week it should go another week at the top spot. Even with competition from Denzel Washington in The Book of Eli, Avatar could not be dethroned from it’s reign. Eli opened very strong with $38 million which is the fourth highest January opening ever. For a full breakdown on the weekend box office continue reading.

The big question right now is whether Avatar can become the highest grossing film of all time. I believe it can seeing as how the film has yet to slow down in five weeks of release. This weekend (which includes Monday for the MLK holiday) Avatar pulled in another $54.6 million. That is less than a 15% drop from last weekend. Cameron’s epic film is the first film to remain at number one for five straight weeks since The Sixth Sense in 1999. It has also broken the record for highest fifth weekend gross beating out Titanic ($30 million.) Avatar also beat out The Dark Knight and Titanic for fast grossing movie to hit $500 million. Titanic did it in 98 days. TDK in 45 days. Avatar did it in 32 days.  One last record Avatar manged to take is the highest Martin Luther King weekend gross, beating out 2008′s Cloverfield ($46.6 million.)

The rest of the weekend box office looked like this:

The Hughes Brothers, directors of The Book of Eli, were fierce competitors for Avatar. On Friday, Eli beat Avatar, but the rest of the weekend went to Avatar and Eli settled in the number two spot with a very impressive $38 million. Eli was the most prominent release this weekend and had the best shot at knocking Avatar from the top spot. Next weekend Avatar may hold onto number one with competition only from The Tooth Fairy, Extraordinary Measures, and Legion.

Since Avatar scored big last night at the Golden Globes with awards for Best Director and Best Picture (Drama) look for it to continue on a steady path as it aims to knock out The Dark Knight and Titanic from their respective spots.

To those of you who follow these box office numbers: Do you think Avatar can become the highest grossing movie of all time? Post your comments below.

Box Office numbers courtesy of Box Office Mojo.

The 2009 box office ended on a high note as James Cameron’s Avatar crossed one billion dollars in worldwide box office sales. This means that Cameron is now the only director to have two movies cross one billion dollars with Avatar now joining the list that contains Cameron’s last film, 1997′s Titanic. While the worldwide gross of Avatar is beyond impressive, it continue to bank more and more money domestically. After three weeks of release Avatar has earned an astonishing $352 million and shows no signs of slowing down. Record breaking is a phrase that has become synonymous with Avatar and we will be hearing much more from this epic film in the coming weeks. For those who haven’t been following the box office success of this movie continue reading for a full breakdown of what Avatar has achieved in a very short amount of time.

Avatar opened worldwide on December 18th 2009. Opening weekend the film banked $77 million domestically. In its second week of release the film broke the record for the highest second week gross after only dropping 2% from opening weekend. For the weekend of December 25th-27th Avatar grossed another stunning $75.6 million which beat the record previously held by The Dark Knight ($75.1 million.)

The next record Avatar broke was for all time third weekend gross by pulling in $68.4 million which beat the previous record holder that was Spider-Man ($45 million.) The question now is if Avatar can top The Dark Knight and sink the Titanic. It is still too early to tell how far Avatar will be able to go, but with the momentum behind this film it doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon. By the end of next weekend the film will have grossed well over $400 million. Most blockbusters drop after their initial opening and the weekend grosses drop week after week. Avatar is the exception to this rule. Opening at $77 million, Cameron’s sci-fi epic has fell only a few percent each week and has continued to break records for second, third, and now most likely fourth weeks of release. At this rate Avatar will have no problem getting to $500 million which puts it within an ear shot of The Dark Knight ($533 million) and Titanic ($600 million.)

For the record here is a breakdown of where Avatar falls into the grand scheme of things:

ALL TIME WORLDWIDE

1. Titanic $1,842,879,955

2. Return of the King $1,119,110,941

3. Dead Man’s Chest $1,066,179,725

4. Avatar $1,025,378,961

5. The Dark Knight $1,001,921,825

Total Weekend Box Office Jan 1-Jan 3

1 Avatar $68,300,000 $352.1

2 Sherlock Holmes $38,400,000 $140.7

3 Alvin & the Chipmunks 2 $36,600,000 $157.3

4 It’s Complicated $18,700,000 $59.1

5 The Blind Side $12,600,000 $209

6 Up in the Air $11,400,000 $45

7 Princess & the Frog $10,013,000 $86

8 Did You Hear About the Morgans? $5,200,000 $25.6

9 Nine $4,250,000 $14

10 Invictus $4,130,000 $40.7

How far will Avatar go? I think after the next week or so we will have a better idea of how big this movie can truly be. It is hard to compare to Titanic and The Dark Knight because the box office tracking on both those films are very different. Titanic opened with a modest amount but held very strong for the better part of a year. The Dark Knight has the highest opening of all time and also held on strong for many months. Avatar opened with a strong number and is not slowing down. It has dropped only a small amount over the last few weeks and if this continues over the next several weeks both TDK and Titanic could have a very serious challenger on their hands.

What do you think? How far will Avatar go? Leave your opinions on this below.

Box office numbers courtesy of Box Office Mojo