With $491.8M in US, ‘Avatar’ passes ‘Star Wars’

With $491.8M in US, ‘Avatar’ passes ‘Star Wars’

LOS ANGELES — James Cameron’s “Avatar” had a $41.3 million weekend to shoot past “Star Wars” as the No. 3 movie on the all-time domestic box office charts. Next stop, “The Dark Knight.”

No. 1 for the fifth-straight weekend, Cameron’s sci-fi saga raised its domestic total to $491.8 million and should top $500 million after revenues are counted today, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Worldwide, 20th Century Fox’s “Avatar” lifted its total to $1.6 billion, second only to Cameron’s last movie, 1997’s “Titanic,” at $1.8 billion.

“One guy makes two movies in 10 years, and they’re by far the biggest movies of all time. That’s remarkable,” said Chris Aronson, head of distribution for the studio.

“Avatar” topped the original “Star Wars,” which took in $460.9 million domestically in its original run and several reissues over the years. But factoring in today’s higher admission prices, “Star Wars” remains well ahead of “Avatar” on actual number of tickets sold.

“Avatar” is closing in on “The Dark Knight,” No. 2 domestically with $533.3 million. After that, only Cameron’s “Titanic” at $600 million will remain ahead of “Avatar” domestically.

Today’s birthdays

Actor-director Kevin Costner is 55. Country singer Mark Collie is 54. Actress Jane Horrocks (“Absolutely Fabulous”) is 46. Comedian Dave Attell (“Insomniac”) is 45. Actor Jesse L. Martin is 41. Rapper DJ Quik is 40. Singer Jonathan Davis of Korn is 39. Singer Christian Burns of BBMak is 37. Actor Jason Segal (“How I Met Your Mother,” “Freaks and Geeks”) is 30. Singer Samantha Mumba is 27.