Avatar Makes (More) History; Kevin Smith Not Too Fat to Open

Warner Bros, Twentieth Century Fox

First, Avatar sunk Titanic. Then it buried it.
James Cameron's epic came up with another $14 million, per estimates, and became the first film to gross $700 million-plus domestically.
Elsewhere, Martin Scorsese's and Leonardo DiCaprio's Shutter Island ($22.2 million) held on for its second straight box-office win, while Kevin Smith's not-too-fat-to-open Cop Out ($18.6 million) and the zombie flick The Crazies ($16.5 million) did what they needed to do in their debuts. More results:
• Avatar's lead over Hollywood's (and Cameron's) No. 2 film, Titanic, is now, well, titanic. Titanic grossed $600.8 million domestically; Avatar stands at $706.9 million.
• Southwest critic Smith has no beef with the box office. Responding to a fan tweet that asked if finishing second to Scorsese was really, truly finishing second, Smith replied: "To me? It's a f--king honor to follow The Man."
• Cop Out is the biggest opener of Smith's career, by a lot. His previous best was $11 million for Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.
• Cop Out is a step up for Bruce Willis, too. The throwback comedy bowed almost $4 million bigger—and cost $43 million less—than last fall's Surrogates.
• The $20 million Crazies cost even less, and was an even bigger bottom-line success, than Cop Out.
• After two weekends, Shutter Island has just about matched its $80 million budget.
• You know how most movies have a pretty good weekend if ticket sales drop "only" about 50 percent from one weekend to the next (see: Shutter Island)? In 11 weekends, Avatar's never gotten close to dropping by half. This weekend, in fact, it was almost even with last weekend.
• Roman Polanski remains wanted and desired by moviegoers. For the second weekend, his Ghost Writer ($870,000 from 43 screens; $1.1 million overall) was the biggest theater-for-theater hit.
• Mel Gibson's going to need the rest of the world to make his acting return a box-office success. His Edge of Darkness ($1 million) is done here, and out of the Top 10, after a four-weekend stay, and a $42.2 million take. The thriller cost $80 million.
• Middle-aged men do have it tough in Hollywood. John Travolta's From Paris with Love ($1 million) likewise dropped from the Top 10. It lasted only three weekends, made only $23.3 million overall and will need international love to match its $56 million budget.
Here's a complete rundown of the weekend's top-grossing films from Friday-Sunday, per estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations:

1. Shutter Island, $22.2 million
2. Cop Out, $18.6 million
3. The Crazies, $16.5 million
4. Avatar, $14 million
5. Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief, $9.8 million
6. Valentine's Day, $9.5 million
7. Dear John, $5 million
8. The Wolfman, $4.1 million
9. The Tooth Fairy, $3.5 million
10. Crazy Heart, $2.5 million