Avatar Break Titanic Record?

??Sci-fi epic Avatar was set to break a record of Titanic proportions Monday. The 3-D movie extravaganza was on the brink of passing the 1.843 billion dollars earned by Titanic at the box office in 1997 to become the highest grossing film of all time, according to figures released by Twentieth Century Fox.

Avatar had earned 1.841 billion dollars by the close of the weekend, enabling it to top the record books for box office takings outside the US. Assuming that it breaks the global record Monday, it will have taken just six weeks to surpass a record that it took Titanic some 10 months to achieve.

The milestone will also cement the place of James Cameron, who produced, directed and wrote both Titanic and Avatar, as the most successful moviemaker of all time.

Though Titanic holds the box office record and boasts a record 11 Oscar wins, Avatar looks unlikely to challenge the Oscar milestone. The movie, which uses modern 3-D technology, has notched awards for for best drama and best director at the Golden Globe awards.

But it has performed poorly at other awards ceremonies, most notably at the Screen Actors Guild and Producers Guild awards this weekend where it was shut out of major honours by voting members who form a key constituency in Oscar voting.