Avatar continued to pull in impressive audiences on Monday and Tuesday, taking $16.4 million and $16.1 million respectively, bringing its five-day US total to $109 million. Worldwide it has already taken over $300 million, which means its well on its way to passing the $600 million mark it needs to make a profit (taking into account production, distribution and marketing costs). Looks like, despite doubters within the industry that the film could ever be a financial success, James Cameron is King Of The Movie world once again. Expect announcement about sequels soon.
Just to put things in perspective, $16.1 million is the third highest take for a Tuesday in the US ever. The only films that beat it are Transformers and The Dark Knight, but Transformers actually opened on a Tuesday (taking $27 million), so that's not really a fair comparison. Dark Knight, you may recall, went on to take over $1 billion worldwide - surely Fox must be thinking that's not a pie in the beautifully-rendered sky target for Avatar now?