LOS ANGELES -James Cameron's "Avatar" jumped out to a faster start than projected, taking in $77 million domestically over opening weekend.
That was about $4 million more than distributor 20th Century Fox had estimated over the weekend. The studio said the film did far more business than it had projected on Sunday.
Early Monday, Fox estimated the film's domestic haul could hit $77.35 million, which would have been a record opening for December. But the final number came in just shy of the $77.2 million debut of Will Smith's "I Am Legend," which retained the December record.
Worldwide, "Avatar" topped $230 million in its first weekend.
The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Hollywood.com are:
1. "Avatar," Fox, $77,025,481, 3,452 locations, $22,313 average, $77,025,481, one week.
2. "The Princess and the Frog," Disney, $12,185,949, 3,475 locations, $3,507 average, $44,717,721, four weeks.
3. "The Blind Side," Warner Bros., $10,021,280, 3,407 locations, $2,941 average, $164,725,525, five weeks.
4. "Did You Hear About the Morgans?", Sony , $6,616,571, 2,718 locations, $2,434 average, $6,616,571, one week.
5. "The Twilight Saga: New Moon," Summit, $4,407,598, 3,035 locations, $1,452 average, $274,598,319, five weeks.
6. "Invictus," Warner Bros., $4,203,171, 2,125 locations, $1,978 average, $15,877,956, two weeks.
7. "Disney's A Christmas Carol," Disney, $3,443,464, 2,070 locations, $1,664 average, $130,813,354, seven weeks.
8. "Up in the Air," Paramount, $3,210,132, 175 locations, $18,344 average, $8,216,051, three weeks.
9. "Brothers," Lionsgate, $2,889,121, 2,009 locations, $1,438 average, $22,349,862, three weeks.
10. "Old Dogs," Disney, $2,340,575, 2,630 locations, $890 average, $43,625,471, four weeks.
11. "2012," Sony, $2,204,588, 2,242 locations, $983 average, $159,028,696, six weeks.
12. "Armored," Sony Screen Gems, $1,284,591, 1,538 locations, $835 average, $14,254,614, three weeks.
13. "Precious," Lionsgate, $1,203,741, 1,003 locations, $1,200 average, $40,084,412, seven weeks.
14. "Ninja Assassin," Warner Bros., $932,447, 1,155 locations, $807 average, $36,419,535, four weeks.
15. "Planet 51," Sony, $810,137, 1,349 locations, $601 average, $38,496,770, five weeks.
16. "The Road," Weinstein Co., $660,274, 396 locations, $1,667 average, $4,926,949, four weeks.
17. "Everybody's Fine," Miramax, $601,659, 1,003 locations, $600 average, $8,855,646, three weeks.
18. "Fantastic Mr. Fox," Fox, $598,941, 540 locations, $1,109 average, $17,385,916, six weeks.
19. "The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day," Apparition, $406,783, 404 locations, $1,007 average, $9,365,018, eight weeks.
20. "Nine," Weinstein Co., $257,232, 4 locations, $64,308 average, $257,232, one week.
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Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue Pictures is owned by Relativity Media LLC; Overture Films is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp.
