Cameron's `Avatar' wins best drama honor at Globes
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – The science-fiction blockbuster "Avatar" won best drama at the Golden Globes and picked up the directing honor for James Cameron on Sunday, raising the "Titanic" filmmaker's prospects for another Academy Awards triumph.
It was a repeat of Cameron's Globes night 12 years ago, when "Titanic" won best drama and the directing prize on its way to dominating the Oscars.
This time, though, instead of being "king of the world," as Cameron declared at the Oscars, he has become king of an alien landscape, elevating space fantasy to enormous critical acclaim.
"'Avatar' asks us to see that everything is connected, all human beings to each other, and us to the Earth. And if you have to go four and a half light years to another, made-up planet to appreciate this miracle of the world that we have right here, well, you know what, that's the wonder of cinema right there, that's the magic," Cameron said.
Winning the dramatic-acting honors were Sandra Bullock for the football tale "The Blind Side" and Jeff Bridges for the country-music story "Crazy Heart." The crowd gave a standing ovation to Bridges, a beloved veteran generally overlooked for key Hollywood honors.
"You're really screwing up my underappreciated status here," Bridges said.
The son of late actor Lloyd Bridges, Bridges thanked his father for encouraging him to go into show business.
"So glad I listened to you, dad," he said.
Bullock cited Michael Oher, the Baltimore Ravens rookie lineman whose life is the subject of "The Blind Side." She plays a wealthy woman whose family took in the teenage Oher after discovering he was homeless.
"If I may steal from Michael Oher, I may not be the most talented, but I've been given opportunity," Bullock said.
The acting prizes for musical and comedy went to Meryl Streep for the Julia Child story "Julie & Julia" and Robert Downey Jr. for the crime romp "Sherlock Holmes." The supporting-performance Globes were won by Mo'Nique as an abusive welfare mother in "Precious" and Christoph Waltz as a gleefully bloodthirsty Nazi in "Inglourious Basterds."
Downey thanked his frequent producing collaborator Joel Silver, the "guy that's only restarted my career 12 times since I began 25 years ago."
The Vegas bachelor bash "The Hangover" won for best musical or comedy, bringing uncharacteristic awards attention for broad comedy, a genre that often gets overlooked at Hollywood honors.
"I just want to thank my mom, who supported my decision to become a director when she realized I wasn't as smart as my two sisters," said "Hangover" director Todd Phillips.
As he accepted the directing Globe, Cameron had kind words for ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow, nominated as best director for "The Hurt Locker."
"Frankly, I thought Kathryn was going to get this. She richly deserves it," said Cameron, whose "Avatar" has taken in $1.6 billion worldwide, second only to "Titanic" with $1.8 billion.
The Globes marked a dramatic turning point for Mo'Nique, who was mainly known for lowbrow comedy but startled audiences with her ferocious performance in "Precious: Based on the Novel `Push' By Sapphire."
Mo'Nique had gushing praise for "Precious" director Lee Daniels and newcomer Gabourey Sidibe, a best dramatic actress nominee at the Globes with her first film role, playing Mo'Nique's abused, illiterate daughter.
"Lee Daniels, the world gets a chance to see how brilliant you are. You are a brilliant, fearless, amazing director who would not waver, and thank you for trusting me," Mo'Nique said. "To Gabby, sister, I am in awe of you. Thank you for letting me play with you."
Streep's competition for best actress in a musical or comedy included herself. She also was nominated for the romance "It's Complicated."
"I just want to say that in my long career, I've played so many extraordinary woman that I'm getting mistaken for one," Streep said. "I'm very clear that I'm the vessel for other people's stories and other people's lives."
Waltz, a veteran Austrian actor who is a relative newcomer in Hollywood, won the supporting-actor Globe in Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds."
"A year and a half ago I was exposed to the gravitational forces of Quentin Tarantino," Waltz said. "He took my modest little world, my globe, and with the power of his talent and his words and his vision, he flung it into its orbit, a dizzying experience."
Though one of Hollywood's biggest parties, the Globes bore somber reminders of tragedy in the real world, many stars wearing ribbons in support of earthquake victims in Haiti.
The blockbuster "Up" came away with the award for animated film. Pixar Animation, the Disney outfit that made "Up," has won all four prizes for animated movies since the Globes introduced the category in 2006. Past Pixar winners are "WALL-E," "Ratatouille" and "Cars."
"Up" features the voice of Ed Asner in a tale of a lonely, bitter widower who renews his zest for adventure by flying his house off under helium balloons to South America, where he encounters his childhood hero and a hilarious gang of talking canines.
"When it came to finding the heart of the film, we didn't have to look very hard," said "Up" director Pete Docter, whose film also won for musical score. "Our inspiration was all around us. Our grandparents, our parents, our wives, our kids. Our talking dogs."
Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner won the screenplay honor for "Up in the Air," which Reitman also directed. The foreign-language honor went to "The White Ribbon," a stark drama of guilt and suspicion set in a German town on the eve of World War I.
"Mad Men" won for best TV drama, while Michael C. Hall won for best actor in a TV drama for "Dexter," in which he plays a serial killer with a code of ethics, killing only other murderers. Hall's publicists revealed this past week that Hall is being treated for Hodgkin's lymphoma and that the cancer is in remission.
"It's really a hell of a thing to go to work in a place where everybody gives a damn. That's really the case with `Dexter,'" Hall said. "It's a dream job. I'm so grateful."
"Dexter" also won the supporting-actor TV honor for John Lithgow. Other TV winners included Juliana Margulies as best actress in a drama for "The Good Wife" and Toni Collette as best comedy actress for "The United States of Tara."
The rain-drenched red carpet was a rare sight for an awards show in sunny southern California, stars in their finery getting damp under umbrellas as storms swept the region.
The Globes got a makeover, featuring Ricky Gervais as master of ceremonies, the first time in 15 years the show had a host.
One of his most biting quips came as he sipped a beer on stage.
"I like a drink as much as the next man, unless the next man is Mel Gibson," Gervais wisecracked as he introduced Globe presenter Mel Gibson, who made an anti-Semitic rant a few years back during a drunken-driving arrest.
Sunday's winners could get a last-minute boost for the Oscars, whose nominations balloting closes Saturday. Last year's big Globe winner, "Slumdog Millionaire," went on to dominate the Oscars.
The Globes are presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, a group of about 90 reporters covering show business for overseas outlets. The show aired live on NBC.
The Couch Potato Report - January 17th, 2010
This week The Couch Potato Report peels films about Mothers and Fathers and we visit the hurt locker.
I begin this week’s Report with two Canadian films about parents and parenting.
One is a movie about two women hoping to become mothers that wants to be a comedy…but it isn’t funny.
The other movie is a documentary about a man looking for his biological father that is interesting and insightful.
Let me get the unfunny one out of the way so I never have to think about it again.
THE BABY FORMULA is set in Toronto and it is about two women in a loving relationship who decide they want to have a baby.
Through a series of stem cell experiments for one of them, and lies from the other, they both end up pregnant.
I’ll admit, I like the idea of THE BABY FORMULA. I thought that it could have made a good film, but the people who made it decided to shoot it as if it was a documentary, like the television show THE OFFICE, and while it works for the TV show, it just doesn’t work in this movie.
There are so many things wrong with THE BABY FORMULA, but the primary thing that worked against it is that I didn’t care for the lead characters, and thus, I didn’t care about them. There were also too many secondary characters who took away from what could have been a nice story about two women using science to create life and have a family.
Plus, the movie thinks its funny. The people who made it think that what they have written is funny…and it isn’t. It is just another textbook definition of Canadian Melodrama put on film and I did not care for it at all!
At the 45th of the 81 minutes of the movie, I was actually wondering how I would be able to sit through any more of it, but I made it to the end...and I am here to advise you not to bother.
THE BABY FORMULA is just not worthy of your time.
From a story about Mothers, lets move now to a film about Fathers.
And BIO DAD is a movie I did like.
BIO DAD is a documentary about a man named Barry Stevens who was born of artificial insemination and is on a search to find his biological father.
And - in addition to looking for his Bio Dad - Barry is also looking to track down as many of the hundreds of half brothers and sisters he can find.
I liked BIO DAD as it shows us Barry’s successes and disappointments. It informed and entertained me, and I also learned a few things about artificial insemination and adoption that I didn’t know.
Unlike THE BABY FORMULA, BIO DAD is worthy of your time. This is good stuff!
The nominations for this year’s Academy Awards will be announced on Tuesday, February 2nd and while our first two releases this week aren’t likely to hear their names called, these next two films are almost guaranteed to be nominated.
Especially THE HURT LOCKER, this movie will be nominated in at least the Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor categories, and maybe even several others.
The film is one of the most highly praised releases of the year, and while I will admit that it is very good, I didn’t think it was THAT good.
THE HURT LOCKER was directed by Kathryn Bigelow, who also gave us POINT BREAK, BLUE STEEL and STRANGE DAYS, and it is about an elite Army bomb squad in Iraq who must defuse bombs and work in a city where everyone is a potential enemy and every object could be a deadly explosive.
Now that synopsis, that concept, that film sounded great to me, it still does, and for the first 55 minutes this movie about people who – for some reason – have the nerve and courage to try and stop something from exploding is great!
But then, after that tremendous start – a start full of tense action, drama and hard-to-believe scenarios – the movie switches gears with one long stand-off in the desert and at that point, I started to not only lose interest…I was bored.
THE HURT LOCKER manages to recover, and I was interested in it again by the end. No, it doesn’t finish as strong as it starts, but what a start!!
No, after watching it for a fourth time this week, I still don’t think that the movie is as good as everyone else seems to think it is, but it is a movie that has enough good stuff in it for me to recommend it.
And if you like to see all of the movies nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, you will need to see THE HURT LOCKER (START CLIP) for sure!
Yes, THE HURT LOCKER is almost a guaranteed Best Picture nominee, and another almost lock is THE COVE, but not for Best Picture. This film about the purported annual killing of about 2,300 dolphins in a National Park in Japan should garner a nod in the Best Documentary Feature category.
Yes, you heard me right, THE COVE is a documentary about the slaughter of dolphins…dolphins! Those cute creatures who everyone loves…even the mention of them can make us smile…dolphins.
THE COVE is a very, very interesting and well made documentary that I recommend about a topic that I still find hard to believe…the slaughter of one of the world’s friendliest creatures.
From potential Academy Award nominees…and maybe even winners…lets movie now to a film that won’t get nominated…but will probably find an audience of teenage girls and young women who discover it and love it on DVD or Blu-ray.
Alexis Bledel from GILMOUR GIRLS stars in POST GRAD.
POST GRAD is about a young woman who graduates from college and doesn’t get the dream job that she has been planning for her whole life, and as such, has to move back in with her parents, while she attempts to find a job, the right guy, and some idea where her life is headed.
If POST GRAD sounds a lot like the 1994 film REALITY BITES, well that’s because they are basically the same movie. This one isn’t as good as that one, but like I said, there are some young women out there who will love it.
Enjoy it, ladies!
I have four films for you now, and they are the films of the THE SCARY MOVIE FRANCHISE
The Scary Movie series is a series of four films that spoof popular horror films. They have collectively grossed over $818 million at the box-office and all star Anna Faris, as Cindy Campbell.
The third and fourth films in the series also star Saskatchewan’s own, Mr. Leslie Nielsen!!
The first two films in THE SCARY MOVIE FRANCHISE are still the best, but the latter two still have more than a few laughs, so if you have enjoyed them over the years, you can now own them in this inexpensive set.
From a series of four comedies, let me now tell you about a documentary about the last U.S. election called BY THE PEOPLE – THE ELECTION OF BARACK OBAMA.
This documentary follows Obama's campaign all the way from 2006 to the night he won the U.S. Presidency.
We see him and his team doing early grassroots campaigning, through large fundraisers, and the we also see the race shift his was as he went from an unknown, to the most well-known politician on the planet.
Sadly, it is what we don’t see and hear that makes this documentary not worth recommending.
Yes, they story of the campaign is well covered, but there are no big surprises, no scoops for those of us who wanted to know more about the man and his victory.
And, even though the film promises “Exclusive Access”, the cameras are not with Obama during the big moments, as in the exact moment he won the presidency. I wanted to see his face and reaction when he realized he’d won…but this film does not give us that.
In the end, BY THE PEOPLE – THE ELECTION OF BARACK OBAMA is a pretty good documentary, but there is nothing special about it.
There was also nothing special about Arnold Schwarzenegger’s LAST ACTION HERO when it came out in 1993, and the time hasn’t been that kind to it either. Even watching it this week, the film about a kid who gets thrown into a movie with his favourite action movie star, I was left with no nostalgia for a film that I - and many movie goers at the time - was hoping would continue Ah-nold’s box-office dominance. Instead – then and now – the film is a huge flop.
LAST ACTION HERO is now available on Blu-ray, and while the movie does look tremendous in High Definition, it still isn’t a film that is worthy of our time. PLUS, the Blu-ray has absolutely no Special Features. There is no retrospective look back, no commentary from the filmmakers about the film’s failure, and what they had hoped,… nothing.
So, if you are one of the few folks who do love this movie, then the BLU-RAY for LAST ACTION HERO is one you might want to own. Otherwise…it is best left in the past.
Another movie that came out in 1993 – but this one was and remains a success – is Sylvester Stallone’s CLIFFHANGER.
It too is now out on Blu-ray, and unlike LAST ACTION HERO, this one has a wealth of special features and retrospectives…but most importantly, it has a film that remains a movie worth watching.
CLIFFHANGER is an action film with great characters and suspense about a heist gone wrong that results in people searching for suitcases full of cash in the Rocky Mountains.
CLIFFHANGER looks great in High Def, and the Special Features are insightful and entertaining. Don’t miss this film on BLU-RAY, if you are a fan of good films.
Up next on Blu-ray, the Beacon shines on a film about the satellite that shines on us every night.
It is a movie called MOON.
MOON is a very interesting little film starring Sam Rockwell from Forst/Nixon and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind as man who is coming to the end of his three-year contract at a single-man mining outpost on the moon and he is getting ready to go home.
His only companion is his talking computer, however…after an accident…he makes an interesting discovery.
Oscar winner Kevin Spacey provides the voice of the computer.
MOON is not your typical science-fiction film, there are no aliens or space fights, but the sci-fi element is what might keep people away from the movie.
However, I could easily recommend the film to anyone who is interested in character driven films that make you wait to get all the answers…answers that I won’t be giving you, you’ll have to watch the movie to get them
No, MOON is not a classic, but it is a smart, engaging little movie that I do mildly recommend.
Finally this week, we get to celebrate twenty years of (START CLIP) THE SIMPSONS
For over twenty years now Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, Maggie and the residents of Springfield and area have been entertaining us, and making us laugh on a very regular basis.
Prior to this week, the first twelve seasons of the show had been released on DVD, and now THE COMPLETE TWENTIETH SEASON has come out on DVD AND Blu-ray!
Why jump ahead, you ask…well, this is the season that saw the show debut in High Definition, using the left and right sides of the TV screen to add new images and jokes and the studio wanted to get it out there.
Unfortunately, because they jumped ahead, this set doesn’t have the usual amount of special features and commentaries that we have come to expect from these SIMPSONS BOX SETS…however, it does still have the episodes, which still make me laugh, so I can easily recommend it…and I eagerly await SEASON THIRTEEN or SEASON TWENTY-ONE on DVD and Blu-ray…whichever comes first.
THE COMPLETE TWENTIETH SEASON of THE SIMPSONS, MOON, CLIFFHANGER, THE LAST ACTION HERO, POST GRAD and THE HURT LOCKER are all available now on Blu-ray and DVD.
BIO DAD, BABY FORMULA, THE SCARY MOVIE FRANCHISE, THE BURNING PLAIN, BY THE PEOPLE – THE ELECTION OF BARACK OBAMA and THE COVE – the documentary about the slaughter of dolphins - are all available now only on DVD.
Coming up on the next Couch Potato Report
A Canadian made romance called CAIRO TIME about a brief, unexpected love affair that catches two people completely off-guard.
Also next week, the Academy Award winning Foreign Language Film DEPARTURES, THE INVENTION OF LYING, and THE BLU-RAY BEACON will shine on THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON of the television series CHUCK.
I'm Dan Reynish. I'll have more on those, and some other releases, in seven days.
For now, that's this week's COUCH POTATO REPORT.
Enjoy the movies and I'll see you back here again next time on The Couch!
Murphy's death blamed on Hollywood
Brittany Murphy's husband Simon Monjack has opened up about the death of the Clueless star - blaming her demise on the pressures of Hollywood.
The actress, 32, died on December 20 after suffering a cardiac arrest at her Hollywood Hills home. She was laid to rest on Christmas Eve, but the cause of her death has been deferred pending toxicology results.
Monjack and his mother-in-law Sharon have now spoken out for an upcoming U.S. chat show - and the British director is convinced the Tinseltown lifestyle led to his wife's death.
In an emotional interview with Larry King, he says: "You want to know what broke Brittany Murphy's heart? Hollywood broke Brittany Murphy's heart."
Monjack also speaks frankly in the TV chat about how he and Sharon are dealing with the death of the young actress.
He says, "I don't think I am. I don't think either of us are (coping). You wake up in the morning and it's like a rebirth. It's - there's not enough time to - your dreams, be they good or bad, when you wake up and I reach out to touch or hold my wife and she isn't there."
The heartbroken pair also opens up about the moment they learned Murphy was dead.
Monjack tells King that doctors let him and his mother-in-law hear the tragic news at the same time - but Sharon is adamant she knew her beloved daughter had died before she was told.
She says, "We knew before that. It was just - you know, you felt her life go out of her."
The interview is set to be broadcast in the U.S. on Wednesday.
"The Hurt Locker" a blast at Critics Choice Awards
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – "The Hurt Locker," a low-budget movie about an American bomb-disposal unit in Iraq, was named best picture on Friday at the Critics' Choice Awards, an event that has an uncanny knack of foreshadowing Oscar success.
The movie's director, Kathryn Bigelow, also was honored, beating a high-profile field that included her ex-husband, "Avatar" filmmaker James Cameron -- a duel she described as "sorta surreal."
"Avatar," which scored nine nominations, was named best action movie, and picked up five other awards in newly established technical categories to lead the overall field.
Jeff Bridges was named best actor for playing a drunken country singer in "Crazy Heart," while the actress award was a tie between Meryl Streep for "Julie & Julia" and Sandra Bullock for "The Blind Side."
The supporting actor awards went to a pair of on-screen villains: Austrian actor Christoph Waltz for his turn as a malevolent Nazi in "Inglourious Basterds" and comedienne Mo'Nique who played an abusive mother in "Precious."
"NINE" AN UNLUCKY NUMBER
"Inglourious Basterds" won two other awards: for director Quentin Tarantino's original screenplay and for best ensemble. Along with the all-star musical "Nine," it led the field with 10 nominations. "Nine," a major box-office bomb, went home empty-handed.
Other winners included Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner for their adapted screenplay for "Up in the Air," and Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar's Broken Embraces" for foreign-language film.
The Critics' Choice Awards, organized by the 235 members of the Broadcast Film Critics Association in the United States and Canada, have established a reputation as the leading barometer of Oscar success. In the past 10 years, 80 percent of its best-picture winners went on to take Oscar gold. The success rate for director, best actor and actress is 70 percent.
Backstage, the winners were decidedly cagey about their Oscar chances ahead of the February 2 nominations announcement.
Bridges, who has been nominated for four Oscars but never won, simply hoped the awards attention would boost the commercial prospects of "Crazy Heart" -- a country version of last year's Oscar hopeful "The Wrestler."
"It's really wonderful to get the tip of the hat by the guys that do what you do," he said. "So if that should happen it would be wonderful."
Bullock and Streep shared the platform backstage and traded glowing assessments of each other. Bullock's eyes welled up when Streep hailed her rival's "amazing" facility for on-screen charm and compassion.
Sandra Bullock gives $1 million to Haiti relief
LOS ANGELES – Sandra Bullock said Friday she donated $1 million toward Haitian earthquake relief, and Madonna announced she gave $250,000 toward the effort as celebrity aid continued to pour into the devestated country.
Bullock's contribution went to Doctors Without Borders' emergency operations in Port-Au-Prince, where three of the organization's existing facilities were damaged by the magnitude 7.0 quake.
"I wanted to ensure that my donation would be used immediately to meet the needs of the Haitian people affected by this catastrophic event," said Bullock in a statement.
Madonna's gift was to Partners In Health, a longtime medical provider in Haiti.
"I urge all of my friends and fans around the world to join me collectively to match my contribution or give in any way you can," she said. "We must act now."
Earlier Friday, Not On Our Watch, an advocacy and grantmaking group founded by George Clooney, Brad Pitt and others, donated $1 million to Partners in Health.
The international Red Cross estimates 45,000 to 50,000 people were killed in the earthquake, which devastated the Caribbean nation on Tuesday.
Globe nominees mix wild fantasy, harsh reality
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – Far-out fantasy and ripped-from-the-headlines reality are in the running at Sunday night's Golden Globes, Hollywood's first major film honors that will help sort out the Academy Awards picture.
Contenders for best drama include two wildly make-believe adventures, the science-fiction spectacle "Avatar" and the war story "Inglourious Basterds," which rewrites the end of World War II with a gleefully vengeful bloodbath at a movie premiere.
Also competing are timely dramas of the war on terror ("The Hurt Locker") and economic hard times ("Up in the Air"), along with the grim but inspiring "Precious: Based on the Novel `Push' By Sapphire," about a Harlem teen struggling to lift herself out of an abyss of illiteracy, abuse and neglect.
With stars sharing dinner and drinks, the Globes traditionally are a loose and relaxed affair compared to the courtly Oscars. Celebrities sometimes are caught more in reality-show mode — Jack Nicholson once mooned the crowd for a laugh, and Christine Lahti had to rush from the restroom to collect her Globe for the TV drama "Chicago Hope."
Also unlike other Hollywood film honors, the Globes feature categories for musicals and comedies along with dramas. Nominated for best musical or comedy are the Vegas bachelor romp "The Hangover," the Julia Child tale "Julie & Julia," the musical "Nine" and the romances "(500) Days of Summer" and "It's Complicated."
Among acting nominees are Meryl Streep for both "Julie & Julia" and "It's Complicated," Sandra Bullock for both "The Blind Side" and "The Proposal" and Matt Damon for both "The Informant!" and "Invictus."
Others include George Clooney, Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick for "Up in the Air," Morgan Freeman for "Invictus," Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard and Penelope Cruz for "Nine," Robert Downey Jr. for "Sherlock Holmes" and Gabourey Sidibe and Mo'Nique for "Precious."
Martin Scorsese, who won the best-director Globe three years ago for "The Departed," is receiving the Cecil B. DeMille Award for career achievement.
Sunday's winners could get a last-minute boost for the Oscars, whose nominations balloting closes Saturday. Oscar nominations come out Feb. 2, with the awards following on March 7.
Last year's big Globe winner, "Slumdog Millionaire," went on to dominate the Oscars.
The Globes are presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, a group of about 90 reporters covering show business for overseas outlets. The show airs live on NBC.
'Avatar' passes 'Star Wars' with $491.8M in US
LOS ANGELES – James Cameron's "Avatar" had a $41.3 million weekend to shoot past "Star Wars" as the No. 3 movie on the all-time domestic box office charts. Next stop, "The Dark Knight."
Number One for the fifth-straight weekend, Cameron's sci-fi saga raised its domestic total to $491.8 million and should top $500 million after revenues are counted on Martin Luther King Day, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Worldwide, 20th Century Fox's "Avatar" lifted its total to $1.6 billion, second only to Cameron's last movie, 1997's "Titanic," at $1.8 billion.
"One guy makes two movies in 10 years, and they're by far the biggest movies of all time. That's remarkable," said Chris Aronson, head of distribution for the studio.
"Avatar" topped the original "Star Wars," which took in $460.9 million domestically in its original run and several reissues over the years. But factoring in today's higher admission prices, "Star Wars" remains well ahead of "Avatar" on actual number of tickets sold.
"Avatar" now is closing in on "The Dark Knight," No. 2 domestically with $533.3 million. After that, only Cameron's "Titanic" at $600 million will remain ahead of "Avatar" domestically.
"We'll be proud of our No. 3 slot," said Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner Bros., which released "The Dark Knight" and has hopes for more in the Batman franchise from its director, Christopher Nolan. "I can just give Chris Nolan a nudge that he's got to raise the bar."
Warner, which has Nolan's sci-fi tale "Inception" with Leonardo DiCaprio opening this July, had a strong No. 2 debut of $31.6 million for its action thriller "The Book of Eli." The movie stars Denzel Washington as a post-apocalypse prophet carrying the last known Bible to safe haven across a decimated America.
Expanding nationwide after a month in limited release, Paramount's drama "The Lovely Bones" came in at No. 3 with $17.1 million. Directed by "The Lord of the Rings" creator Peter Jackson, "The Lovely Bones" features Saoirse Ronan, Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz and Stanley Tucci in the story of a murdered teen looking back on the world from the afterlife.
Lionsgate's family action tale "The Spy Next Door" debuted at No. 6 with $9.7 million. It stars Jackie Chan as a newly retired agent forced back into the spy game when bad guys come after him and his girlfriend's kids.
Like "Titanic," which dominated the Academy Awards 12 years ago, "Avatar" is expected to remain aloft in the box office charts as Oscar season progresses. "Avatar" was up for best drama at Sunday's Golden Globes and is considered a likely best-picture nominee when Oscar nominations come out Feb. 2.
"It's kind of the cherry on top of the cake for this movie to not only be a massive box office hit, but to get all this awards attention," said Paul Dergarabedian, box office analyst for Hollywood.com. "It's hard sometimes to get a 50- or 60-year-old out of their chair to go see a science-fiction movie in 3-D. But if `Avatar' gets enough recognition from the critics, they may just do it."
Fox executive Aronson would not say if the studio expects "Avatar" to pass either the $600 million domestic total for "Titanic" or its $1.8 billion worldwide total. Some box office watchers say "Avatar" could climb as high $2 billion, though.
"`Titanic' was a ship. Batman had a motorcycle. `Avatar's' a rocket ship," Aronson said. "Is there a lot of fuel left in the tank? You bet."
Even if "Avatar" sets a new revenue record, it's doubtful it would sell as many tickets as "Titanic" did because of today's higher admission prices.
"Titanic" sold about 130 million tickets domestically based on average ticket prices of about $4.60 back in 1997 and 1998. Based on today's average domestic price of about $7.50, "Avatar" would be at around half that mark.
Average admission prices for "Avatar" likely run even higher, given that much of its business comes from a 3-D version, which costs a few dollars extra to see.
Here are the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Tuesday.
1. "Avatar," $41.3 million.
2. "The Book of Eli," $31.6 million.
3. "The Lovely Bones," $17.1 million.
4. "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel," $11.5 million.
5. "Sherlock Holmes," $9.8 million.
6. "The Spy Next Door," $9.7 million.
7. "It's Complicated," $7.7 million.
8. "Leap Year," $5.8 million.
9. "The Blind Side," $5.6 million.
10. "Up in the Air," $5.5 million.