Blue is the new green

It’s official: Avatar is number two.

No, nothing has bumped it from the top spot on weekly box office returns. Indeed, at $48.5 million for the weekend, it earned nearly three times what second place Sherlock Holmes did ($16.6 million), meaning for the third straight week the top and second spots are unchanged.

But the second place ranking earned by Avatar is instead to be found on the all-time top 5 international box office takes. That’s right, at $1.335 billion, it has passed Lord of the Rings: Return of the King ($1.129) to settle in behind 1997’s mega hit Titanic, which earned $1.842 billion worldwide. That means we have James Cameron to thank for the two movies that have earned more money than any other in the entire history of cinema. King of the World, indeed.

And perhaps his little blue aliens have what it takes to sink the unsinkable big boat. At $429 million in domestic take, Avatar has done nearly twice as well overseas, and its numbers are still climbing.

Then again, come this weekend there will be some new competition in the heavily marketed Denzel Washington doomsday pic The Book of Eli.

The apocalypse ain't got nothin' on me.

As for what will be released tomorrow worth adding to your Netflix, well, it’s slim pickings.

There is the war drama The Hurt Locker, which has won a lot of critical acclaim and will likely be in the race for the Best Picture Oscar.

But more interesting to me is a film I hadn’t seen much buzz about, a psychological sci-fi flick in the vein of 2001: A Space Odyssey called Moon. It’s got Kevin Spacey as the evil computer! Check out the trailer and add if it moves you.