Avatar soars into $1-billion territory. 'Strong foreign ticket sales help make the science-fiction movie the fifth in history to pass the watermark. ... One of the riskiest movies of all times is now officially one of the most successful at the box office. When Avatar opened, its solid but far from stellar results left 20th Century Fox uncertain about whether the $430 million that it and two financing partners had invested to produce and market the 3-D film would pay off.'"
Given that the big alternatives were Sherlock Holmes or Alvin & the Chipmunks, I think the winner was clear.

http://news.slashdot.org/story/10/01...lion-Territory