"The worldwide IMAX network was operating at near full capacity throughout the entire weekend," said IMAX CEO Richard L. Gelfond. "This success is a testament to the groundbreaking work of James Cameron and his team, who have raised the bar for storytelling and truly transported us into another world."
LOS ANGELES — IMAX Corp. said Monday the film "Avatar" made $9.5 million in box office ticket sales during its opening weekend in 178 of its theaters in the U.S.
"Avatar," a science fiction thriller directed by James Cameron and released by News Corp.'s Twentieth Century Fox, took in roughly 13 percent of the total sales in IMAX theaters, the company said. Total domestic sales came to $73 million.
The movie made another $4.1 million internationally on 58 screens, IMAX said. IMAX plans to release the film in 25 more locations in the next few weeks, including theaters in China and Japan.
"From the very beginning, James Cameron considered how the film would look and feel in IMAX, and as a result, Jim, Jon Landau and the Lightstorm team have produced a spectacular film that moviegoers are clearly reacting to with enthusiasm and strong word of mouth," added Greg Foster, Chairman and President of IMAX Filmed Entertainment. "Cameron's incredible vision and passion for pushing the technological boundaries of filmmaking, combined with a superb marketing and distribution campaign from Twentieth Century Fox has created an epic release that we are very proud to be a part of. We look forward to transporting more moviegoers to Pandora via The IMAX 3D Experience in the weeks ahead."
Avatar is the story of an ex-Marine who finds himself thrust into hostilities on an alien planet filled with exotic life forms. As an Avatar, a human mind in an alien body, he finds himself torn between two worlds, in a desperate fight for his own survival and that of the indigenous people. More than ten years in the making, Avatar marks Cameron's return to feature directing since helming 1997's Titanic, the highest grossing film of all time and winner of eleven Oscars(R) including Best Picture. WETA Digital, renowned for its work in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and King Kong, will incorporate new intuitive CGI technologies to transform the environments and characters into photorealistic 3D imagery that will transport the audience into the alien world rich with imaginative vistas, creatures and characters.
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