It was bound to happen. After Avatar became the highest grossing film ever globally and set new box office records in countries as diverse as the US and China, it was inevitable that at some point the UK was going to join the throng and see James Cameron's movie become the biggest moneymaker ever at UK cinemas.
Well, according to Screen Daily, it's happened. They report that with an estimated UK take of £3.3 million in its eighth weekend, that boosted its tally to over £70 million in Britain and past the previous biggest ever tally of £69.2 million, set by Mamma Mia in 2008. Many will breath a sigh of relief that the ABBA musical is no longer the film we're suggesting to the world we liked the most, but it does make us rather pedestrian that our biggest movie is now pretty much the same as everyone else's. With Avatar likely to add quite a few more millions of pounds by the end of its run, it'll set a record that's going to be tough to beat.
And just to give another little hint at what a big film Avatar has become around the globe, last year only 55 film grossed more than $100 million around the world, while Avatar has now broken that barrier in seven separate countries (the US, China, France, Germany Russia, Japan and the UK).
Final figures for the box office weekend in the UK will be available tomorrow, which should definitively confirm Avatar as Britain's new highest grossing film ever.
