December 21, 2009 
UPDATE (22/12/09): The final weekend tally has been revised. Avatar actually grossed $242 million worldwide.
Avatar grossed a massive $12.895 million at the Australian box office over the weekend. All that Aussie coin contributed to its hefty worldwide tally of $232.2 million. Avatar now holds the record for the largest non-franchise non-sequel opening at the worldwide box office.
The James Cameron-directed blockbuster was unable to unseat The Twilight Saga’s New Moon as record-holder of the biggest opening in Australian history. New Moon took in $16.01 million on its first weekend back in November.
The question now is whether or not Avatar can reach the magic $1 billion mark. Only four films have ever achieved such a feat: The Dark Knight ($1.001bil), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest ($1.066bil), Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King ($1.119bil) and Cameron’s last film, Titanic ($1.842bil).
You can check out my review of Avatar here.
Discuss: What were your thoughts on Avatar? Can it hit $1 billion?
Wonder what the total would be without the extra $ for 3D most cinemas charge…