AFTER seven weeks at the top of the American box office, James Cameron’s 3D spex-tacular Avatar has been pushed aside by romantic drama Dear John, starring Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried.
The release, on Sony’s Screen Gems label, opened to an estimated $32.4million, ahead of Avatar’s $23.6million. The Lasse Hallstrom-directed love story had an 84 per cent female audience, polls indicated, and earned the biggest opener for a Screen Gems title.
East Coast cinema attendance was hit by the record-breaking blizzards dubbed Snowmageddon or Snowpocalypse. Studios were predicting a 50 per cent to 60 per cent drop in box office takings because of the weather and the Super Bowl, reports Variety.
In overseas territories, Avatar retained its crown, sliding by 20 per cent for an estimated weekend gross of $76million. it now stands at a worldwide total of $2.2billion.