UK Box Office: It's Official... Avatar is the UK's Biggest Film Ever

It has taken eight weeks, but finally Avatar has done it: become the biggest film ever at the UK box-office. The weekend saw James Cameron's sci-fi blockbuster overtake Mamma Mia! (lifetime total of £69.17m), with takings to date of £71.94m. When you consider that after eight weekends Mamma Mia! had grossed £54.54m (79%) of its eventual total, there is presumably still plenty of life in Avatar yet.

Avatar dropped just 11% from the previous weekend, so if it continues at that trajectory it will take a long time before it is dropped from screens. It doesn't feature competition for 3D cinemas until Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland is released on March 5.

Expanding from a single cinema to 460 sites nationwide, The Princess And The Frog saw its box-office rise by over 14,000%, moving up to number 2 in the chart. Weekend takings of £2.22m are decent, given the gamble of presenting the market with a traditional 2D hand-drawn animation. The real test is how the magical family film performs over the half-term holiday. Last February Disney's 3D computer animation Bolt grossed £18m in total, and the company's festive offering A Christmas Carol took over £20m; both these films present tough targets for Princess.

Two new entrants landed in the top five. Animation Astro Boy's opening gross of £1.09m includes £369,000 in preview takings from the previous weekend, making Clint Eastwood's Invictus the real winner, with £1.07m. The Nelson Mandela rugby-themed drama stars Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon, who both received Oscar nominations last Thursday, but the film is not at the forefront of awards buzz.

The other new entry in the top ten, Michael Cera dark comedy Youth In Revolt, opened with a healthy £744,000. Given the film's much lower production budget and more modest marketing spend, this number suggests an eventual profit for its UK distributor.

With competition from Princess And The Frog, kiddie flick Alvin And The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel fell from number 2 to 8th place. In the process it cracked £20m, which is significantly beyond expectations for the squeaky sequel. The film is the 11th biggest hit of the past 12 months, ahead of several summer 2009 blockbusters such as Wolverine, Terminator: Salvation, Angels And Demons and Night At The Museum 2. Sherlock Holmes is the 7th biggest hit over the same period, ahead of even bigger summer 2009 hits The Hangover and Star Trek.


UK Top 10 (up to 7 Feb)

1. Avatar, £4.34m (8 weeks in chart – Total: £71.94m)
2. The Princess And The Frog, £2.22m (2 weeks in chart – Total: £2.24m)
3. Astro Boy, £1.09m (New)
4. Invictus, £1.07m (New)
5. Sherlock Holmes, £784k (7 weeks in chart – Total: £24.47m)
6. Edge Of Darkness, £768k (2 weeks in chart – Total: £2.65m)
7. Youth In Revolt, £744k (New)
8. Alvin And The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, £730k (7 weeks in chart – Total: £20.84m)
9. It's Complicated, £561k (5 weeks in chart – Total: £8.29m)
10. Up In The Air, £482k (4 weeks in chart – Total: £5.58m)