U.K. box office: ‘Avatar’ now biggest U.K. movie ever

After last weekend, Avatar is now officially the biggest movie ever in the U.K., according to Digital Spy:

James Cameron's space blockbuster pulls in £4.3 million on its eighth week of release to march past the Abba musical's £69 million box office haul. Avatar has now grossed nearly £72 million in the UK since opening in December.

That U.K. cumulative total makes Avatar even more successful in the U.K. than in North America: a comparative U.S. and Canadian take would be $720 million, yet it was “only” at $629 million after last weekend. And as Charles Gant at the Guardian Film blog notes, Avatar, though it just finished its eighth weekend, still has a long way to go:

Mamma Mia! had taken 79% of its eventual total gross after eight weekends on release. If Avatar follows the same pattern, the sci-fi blockbuster is on course to take £91m in the UK. Back in the spring of 1998, Titanic had grossed just 70.6% of its eventual gross after eight weekends. If Avatar follows the Titanic revenue curve, it will go on to exceed £100m, which is now a tantalising prospect for backers Twentieth Century Fox.

Sherlock Holmes continues to hold very strong in the U.K., dropping only 32 percent in its seventh week. It will almost certainly pass £25 million this coming weekend, which is far better, on a relative basis, than its North American total as of last weekend over just over $200 million (though that’s still very impressive). Expect more blockbuster-type movies fom Guy Ritchie.

Overall, the box office was up 27 percent over the same weekend last year, continuing the long U.K. moviegoing boom.

[numbers via UK Film Council]