The Road to #1: An Avatar Box Office Chronology

The following two charts essentially track Avatar's progress up the box office chart, as it was surpassing various films on its way to the #1 spot domestically. As you can see, the brisk pace of the film up the charts is quite amazing. It took the film only ten days after it passed The Dark Knight to surpass Titanic's all time record.

Avatar Vs. The Dark Knight Vs. Titanic Daily Gross

As with the weekly figures, what is remarkable here is Avatar's consistency, which contrasts starkly with The Dark Knight's (still great) holds and holds up well in comparison with Titanic's.

Day	Avatar		The Dark Knight		Titanic
1	$26,752,099		$67,165,092		$8,658,814
2	$25,529,036	-4.57%	$47,650,240	-29.06%	$10,672,013	23.25%
3	$24,744,346	-3.07%	$43,596,151	-8.51%	$9,307,304	-12.79%
4	$16,385,820	-33.78%	$24,493,313	-43.82%	$5,578,212	-40.07%
5	$16,086,461	-1.83%	$20,868,722	-14.80%	$6,003,119	7.62%
6	$16,445,291	2.23%	$18,377,288	-11.94%	$3,571,345	-40.51%
7	$11,150,998	-32.19%	$16,464,405	-10.41%	$9,178,529	157.00%
8	$23,095,046	107.11%	$23,232,292	41.11%	$12,122,298	32.07%
9	$28,274,406	22.43%	$28,272,494	21.69%	$12,466,455	2.84%
10	$24,247,681	-14.24%	$23,661,680	-16.31%	$10,866,920	-12.83%
11	$19,418,139	-19.92%	$10,518,116	-55.55%	$7,942,520	-26.91%
12	$18,290,628	-5.81%	$9,629,366	-8.45%	$8,012,909	0.89%
13	$18,466,123	0.96%	$8,755,141	-9.08%	$8,213,735	2.51%
14	$14,738,136	-20.19%	$8,402,546	-4.03%	$11,558,520	40.72%
15	$25,274,008	71.49%	$12,709,035	51.25%	$11,698,861	1.21%
16	$25,835,551	2.22%	$17,191,150	35.27%	$12,726,625	8.79%
17	$17,381,129	-32.72%	$12,764,034	-25.75%	$8,889,792	-30.15%
18	$8,094,554	-53.43%	$6,287,429	-50.74%	$3,022,271	-66.00%
19	$7,327,233	-9.48%	$5,661,240	-9.96%	$3,044,822	0.75%
20	$6,909,167	-5.71%	$5,077,367	-10.31%	$2,841,351	-6.68%
21	$6,094,445	-11.79%	$4,734,366	-6.76%	$2,789,088	-1.84%
22	$13,280,653	117.91%	$7,577,362	60.05%	$7,738,150	177.44%
23	$21,269,537	60.15%	$10,502,243	38.60%	$12,758,118	64.87%
24	$15,756,027	-25.92%	$8,037,425	-23.47%	$8,220,042	-35.57%
25	$5,111,193	-67.56%	$3,742,198	-53.44%	$2,170,146	-73.60%
26	$5,066,734	-0.87%	$3,515,389	-6.06%	$2,386,164	9.95%
27	$4,743,762	-6.37%	$3,002,302	-14.60%	$2,095,782	-12.17%
28	$4,698,802	-0.95%	$2,814,471	-6.26%	$2,200,465	4.99%
29	$10,394,264	121.21%	$4,937,955	75.45%	$7,418,385	237.13%
30	$17,254,108	66.00%	$6,708,833	35.86%	$12,357,344	66.58%
31	$15,137,240	-12.27%	$4,732,505	-29.46%	$10,235,305	-17.17%
32	$11,615,834	-23.26%	$2,112,206	-55.37%	$6,003,510	-41.35%
33	$4,190,947	-63.92%	$2,148,332	1.71%	$2,322,334	-61.32%
34	$3,792,807	-9.50%	$1,805,312	-15.97%	$2,076,976	-10.57%
35	$3,945,213	4.02%	$1,726,461	-4.37%	$2,212,942	6.55%

As you can see, Avatar has been well ahead of Titanic since the start, and its consistency has allowed it to outpace The Dark Knight convincingly.

Avatar Vs. The Dark Knight Vs. Titanic Weekly Gross

As Avatar enters its 6th week, during which it will surpass The Dark Knight and inch closer to Titanic, I think it's useful to look back on its performance in comparison to those two films during the first 5 weeks.

First off, in terms of weekly grosses, what is remarkable is just how consistent Avatar's grosses have been. It has surged far, far ahead of The Dark Knight and remains well ahead of Titanic.

	Avatar		The Dark Knight		Titanic
Week 1	$137,094,051		$238,615,211		$52,969,336
Week 2	$146,530,159	6.88%	$112,471,635	-52.86%	$71,183,357	34.39%
Week 3	$96,916,087	-33.86%	$64,424,621	-42.72%	$45,012,810	-36.76%
Week 4	$69,926,708	-27.85%	$39,191,390	-39.17%	$37,568,867	-16.54%
Week 5	$66,330,413	-5.14%	$24,171,604	-38.32%	$42,626,796	13.46%

Avatar: International Market Shares Graph

This is a pie graph to accompany the chart in the post below, showing each major market's share of the total international gross for Avatar. Click on graph to enlarge.

Top Film of the Weekend: 2007-2009

I won't bother listing all the names for the releases, but you can tell the big ones straight away, I think. By way of comparison, it is clear that 2007 and 2008 have had a heads up on 2009 thus far. I do expect the rest of this year to give us a few more big openings, above all New Moon, which I think can outgross I Am Legend. I Am Legend is that big bar that sticks up between the summer 2007 and summer 2008 blocks.

$20m+ Days By Year

I think these figures, more than anything else, highlight just how much has changed in so short a time period. Ticket prices are only part of the reason. Changes in release patterns, a shorter release window due to the increasing DVD and home video market, greater competition for more theatre space, and a greater emphasis on sequels and franchise films-all those factors have contributed to bigger and bigger opening days. Curiously, it seems we have stalled in the last few years after the surge between 1999 and 2001. I also find it interesting that three years this decade havae had exactly 30 $20m+ days. 2008's tally is due to The Dark Knight, above all and everything, while 2007's and 2004's were aided by the Shrek and Spider-Man films.

In graph format:

2009's Top Films: A Comparative Graph

2009 has been a very curious year as regards major films, because we have witnessed several releases showcasing the kind of legs associated more commonly with the 1980s and 1990s. Paul Blart and Taken at the beginning of year, and The Hangover, The Proposal, and Up during the summer, have all had remarkable holds week after week. They have been countered by the usual suspects: the big films that have wide openings and then fizzle quickly. 2009 has given us several of those films, foremost among them Watchmen. Below are two graphs that pit all the 2009 $100m+ releases thus far against each other weekend to weekend. I know it's hard to make out sometimes, because of the number of films, but the main point, that films with smaller openings have outlasted films with larger ones, is clear enough. The first graph is for just the first four weekends, while the second one is for 12 weekends: