James Cameron did it to James Cameron.Cameron's unstoppable Avatar hit $1.29 billion at the international box office, Fox said today, passing Cameron's Titanic mark of $1.24 billion to set the new record. By Monday, the studio estimates, Avatar will top Titanic's worldwide gross of $1.848 billion to become Earth's biggest money-maker of all-time.And, no, the film is not stopping there.Within a week to a week-and-a-half, Fox guestimated, the 3D- and IMAX-powered Avatar should swipeTitanic's last remaining major record: all-time domestic champ.Avatar, which grossed $36 million domestically Friday-Sunday, and, oh, by the way, led the box office for a sixth straight weekend, is now at $552.8 million on that ledger. On Saturday, it blew past The Dark Knight for second place on the domestic list. Titanic's once-believed unbeatable $600.8 million will be the next to go.Rose and Jack, we hardly knew ye."Milestones like this are great," calm and composed Fox exec Chris Aronson said today. "It's part of an amazing ride the film has taken us on. [But] this film is still just captivating audieces on global basis."So, to answer the question, you celebrate becoming the world's No. 1 film after you're finished being the world's No. 1 film.Away from China !Audiences love Avatar. The Golden Globes love Avatar. Chinese mucky-mucks...that's another story.Officials behind the Great Wall are yanking James Cameron's fantasy flick to make way for a biopic of favorite son Confucius.And no, it's not in eye-popping 3-D. But it does have Chow Yun-Fat.China's state-run movie distributor, China Film Group, is responsible for the switcheroo, according to Hong Kong's Apple Daily (via the Los Angeles Times), and finalized its decision after propaganda officials complained that Avatar, playing in 1,628 Chinese theaters, was taking away too much market share from homegrown flicks and bringing unwanted attention to the communist country's issue of forced evictions.Chinese people have been relocated by the millions to make room for government projects. In Avatar, humans try to displace an alien race to mine a precious element.Avatar has been playing in China for just two weeks and has banked $73.2 million—making it the top-grossing film in the nation's history.Which, in Avatar's case, may take a while.Avatar Lords Over Rings, Now No. 2 All TimeLooks like James Cameron is the King of Middle Earth, too.With $1.14 billion worldwide and counting, Avatar has now overtaken the $1.1 billion raked in by 2003's The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King to become the second-highest-grossing film in history.In fact, Avatar is going so strong that what once seemed an out-of-this-world impossibility now seems within the realm of (virtual) reality. If the 20th Century Fox movie, which screens in both 2-D and 3-D formats, keeps up its current pace, it could catch the $1.8 billion in global ticket sales tallied by the Oscar-winning filmmaker's own Titanic.It that wasn't enough (and it never is in Tinseltown), Fox's FX cable network has reportedly paid upward of $25 million for the TV rights to Avatar, which will premiere in 2012.And that makes Cameron's blue folk even more green.Some more notes on the box-office weekend:• The $25 million Legion (second place, $18.2 million) did well for a $25 million angel-action movie.• The $31 million Extraordinary Measures (seventh place, $7 million) did poorly for a $31 million Brendan Fraser and Harrison Ford movie.• The $48 million The Tooth Fairy (fourth place, $14.5 million) did better than Extraordinary Measures, but not much better.• Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (eighth place, $6.5 million) topped $200 million domestically; It's Complicated (ninth place, $6.2 million) moved in on $100 million.• Sandra Bullock's The Blind Side ($4.5 million) departed the Top 10 after nine long weeks, and a super $234 million run.• Leap Year ($3 million; $23 million overall) got bounced from the Top 10 after two short weekends.Here's a rundown of the weekend's top-grossing films, per estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations:Avatar, $36 millionLegion, $18.2 millionThe Book of Eli, $17 millionThe Tooth Fairy, $14.5 millionThe Lovely Bones, $8.8 millionSherlock Holmes, $7.1 millionExtraordinary Measures, $7 millionAlvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, $6.5 millionIt's Complicated, $6.2 millionThe Spy Next Door, $4.8 million(Originally published on Jan. 24, 2010, at 9:18 a.m. PT)
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