Avatar Avatar (, ; ), is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means "descent". It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, goddess or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appeara ...

'' was released in December 2009 and went on to break multiple box office records in various markets. Worldwide, it became the highest-grossing movie of all time and the fastest movie to gross $1 billion through $2.5 billion, while also setting the records for the highest grosses in the 3D and IMAX formats, respectively. In its domestic market of the United States and Canada, it set the records for the

highest-grossing film Films generate income from several revenue streams, including theatrical exhibition, home video, television broadcast rights, and merchandising. However, theatrical box-office earnings are the primary metric for trade publications in assess ...

and second through seventh weekends, as well as the fastest to gross $500 million through $750 million. Elsewhere, it became the highest-grossing film of all time in over 30 markets including China,

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

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South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

, and

the United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. Box office analysts identified several factors contributing to the film's box office success. Among these were the relative lack of competition owing to the release date, a marketing strategy that emphasized the novelty of the cinematic experience leading viewers to watch it in the theater rather than at home, positive

word of mouth Word of mouth, or ''viva voce'', is the passing of information from person to person using oral communication, which could be as simple as telling someone the time of day. Storytelling is a common form of word-of-mouth communication where one pe ...

and repeat viewings increasing the film's staying power in cinemas, an ability to attract audiences across the globe, and premium ticket prices from 3D and IMAX showings. Many of the records set by the film are listed below. Data on the previous record and records that have since been surpassed are presented where available and applicable. All grosses are given in unadjusted

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, except where noted otherwise.

Worldwide

The film set the worldwide record for the highest gross of all time, surpassing the previous record by more than 50%, and grossed $2 billion in less time than it had taken the previous fastest-grossing film to gross half as much. It also exceeded the previous record for highest gross in the IMAX format by a factor of more than three.

United States and Canada

In the domestic market, ''Avatar'' set the record for the highest-grossing film of all time as well as several weekend records. It also set speed records for grosses at and above $500 million, and had the widest IMAX and 3D releases of any film up to that time.

Other territories

''Avatar'' became the highest-grossing movie of all time in more than 30 markets spanning all six continents (not counting

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

). Data on precise figures, previous record holders, and surpassed records is limited due to the absence of box office record trackers for these markets.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Box Office Records Set By Avatar Box Office Records