`Dear John` bumps `Avatar` with $32.4M debut; sci-fi blockbuster lifts global total to $2.2B
by David GermainLOS ANGELES – A sci-fi love story has given way to an earthbound romance at the box office, livening up typically slow times at theatres over Super Bowl weekend.
Released by Sony`s Screen Gems banner, "Dear John" debuted as the No. 1 movie with $32.4 million, knocking off "Avatar" after seven weekends in first place, according to studio estimates Sunday.
"It is very cool to know that it was our movie that audiences just totally embraced and made No. 1 for the weekend," said Rory Bruer, head of distribution at Sony. As for runaway blockbuster "Avatar," he quipped, "I think they`re going to be fine in the long run."
"Avatar" slipped to No. 2 with $23.6 million, raising its domestic total to $630.1 million. Directed by James Cameron, 20th Century Fox`s "Avatar" surpassed his own "Titanic," which had held the domestic revenue record at $600.8 million.
With a record $2.2 billion worldwide, "Avatar" also has soared past the $1.8 billion "Titanic" took in globally.
Read the whole story here: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/1002 … box_office
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