I have to say, Archangel is doing a mighty fine job with this thread.

He's consistently provided awesome charts/analysis for years now.

i concur as well. though one must not forget mark.

So much love in this thread right now.

There is a poster over at BOM from China who is claiming that the government there is trying to bury the film with the date move. I have no clue how much veracity there is to that claim, though.

Current US$ record holders...

Ironiya Sudby, Prodolzhenie (2007) - $50m
Ice Age 3: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs - $45m
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa - $41m
Admiral (2008) - $35m

Record is gone....

Good qestion, out of the major markets, the gap has really closed considerably on Titanic.

In US$ terms

LOTRs are the current record holders or #1-#3 in Scandinavia and most of the middle-Europe countries (especially ROTK in US$ and FOTR in local admissions). Avatar is just a small step below LOTR/HP/Pirates in these regions currently.

Mamma Mia of course took down Titanic in the UK.

Welcome to the Sticks took down Titanic in France. Gap is massive though.

In Spain, ROTK got within $4m of Titanic's $44m, but Avatar is a lock to raise the record there to over $50m.

In Australia, Titanic is #2 in US$ behind Crocodile Dundee anyway, with ROTK close behind. The gap between #1 and #3 in US$ terms currently is only $3m. Avatar should run away with the record and be the first movie ever to cross US$40m in Australia. Titanic's Australian total looks to be in jeopardy as well at $57m.

Russian record as you know was gone ages ago, first by T3, then ROTK...until now where a local and Ice Age 3/Shrek 3 stakes claim. Avatar will beat all of them comfortably.

Italy probably is the other country that has the largest gap. Titanic at $72.2m leads Life Is Beautiful at $56.3m. ROTK and Da Vinci code are the next best foreigners at around the $37m mark

In South America, the Mexican record has fallen 3 times since Titanic. First by Spiderman 1, then Spiderman 3 and now by Ice Age 3 at just over $40m. Avatar is not tracking strong enough at this stage to beat Ice Age 3 but it could get very close i think in the end.

Brazil is another market where the gap is massive. TItanic at $67m leads Ice Age 3 at around $45m. Avatar is tracking within $8m of Ice Age 3 after 2 weekends but Titanic's total is out of reach.

In asia, China as you know already belongs to 2012 and Transformers. Avatar judging from the other markets like Taiwan and Hong Kong should challenge both of those sets of movies. Titanic still lords over Taiwan (almost doubling the next placegetters Jurassic Park 2 and ROTK in local dollars). In Hong Kong, Armageddon took down Titanic in 1998 $21m vs. $14.8m, however, since then, only the local pics by Stephen Chow got closest at $7.8m (both Kung Fu Hustle and Sholin Soccer).

In Japan, Titanic had a 4 year reign at the top with a massive gap of $60m over the next best movie at the time Princess Monoke...until Spirited Away trumped Titanic $234m vs. $220m. Since then, only Harry Potter 1/2 managed to make any inroads at the upper echelon for foreign releases, while the locals faired much better with Howl's Moving Castle the closest at $188m, and Bayside Shakedown 2, Ponyo On The Cliff both at $165m.

In the smaller Asian countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines...etc, it's mainly a split between Transformers 2 and Spiderman 3 for the US$ records.

no doubt he;s the biggest asset KJ has when it comes to int. BO.

i concur as well. though one must not forget mark.

Sherlock Holmes opens in Russia on December 31st, expect a massive opening if it turns out to be a blockbuster.

So it did only $1.4M this weekend in India. Yep it isn't beating 2012, Titanic and SM3 in India

Yep. That's what I'm thinking. Sherlock is gonna own.