Could Avatar Gross $700 Million And $3 Billion?

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This weekend, Avatar passed the $2 billion mark at the worldwide box office. It's the first film to do so in history. In the domestic box office it is $6 million away from grossing $600 million. It will be the second movie to reach that milestone. The first being Titanic, also directed by James Cameron.

So, the question is now: can the film gross $700 million at the domestic box office and $3 billion at the worldwide box office?

The answer is yes. Chances are it'll dominate for an eighth straight week. Perhaps it'll even defeat its ninth week competition which includes The Wolfman and Valentine's Day. At this point there's only two movies that have a strong chance of taking down the film: Shutter Island and Alice in Wonderland.

Shutter Island is the latest collaboration of director Martin Scorsese and star Leonardo DiCaprio. They have a solid track record with two of their three previous movies grossing over $200 million worldwide. Plus, it's a film that people have been waiting over a year to watch. It was originally scheduled for October of last year, but Paramount, the studio, felt it could gross more money this February. And it would be poetic justice if DiCaprio, the star of Titanic, took down Avatar.

Alice in Wonderland opens on March 5 in 3D and IMAX. If there's one movie that'll do serious damage to Avatar it's this one. The main reason for Avatar being so successful is the increased ticket price of 3D and IMAX. Avatar may be king of the world, but it isn't Titanic. Titanic was #1 for 15 weeks and did it the old-fashioned way. And it did it without the help of re-releases like Star Wars and the adjusted king, Gone with the Wind. In addition, adjusted for inflation, Titanic grossed $957.4 million domestically. Beat that, Avatar. Anyway, 3D and IMAX releases will become the norm, but as of now, there's limited space to screen all of these films at once. So, when Alice in Wonderland is released it'll remove Avatar from a majority of 3D and IMAX screens.

However, even when Avatar is knocked out of the top spot, it'll still be in the top 5 and 10 for a few more weeks. It'll possibly be there till sometime in May when the summer season begins. In other words, it has three months left in its theatrical life. That's enough time to gross another $100 million domestically and another $1 billion worldwide.

If it took 12 years to dethrone Titanic then how long will it take for Avatar?