‘Avatar’ Rules Box Office, Despite Blizzard

James Cameron's "Avatar" dominated the global box office during its opening weekend, despite a blizzard that slammed the East Coast of the U.S.

The movie took in about $232.2 million from North America and 106 foreign markets, according to 20th Century Fox. If these figures verify,this would make for the ninth-biggest opening of all time.

From the U.S. and Canada, the movie drew $73 million, which was short of forecasts of around $85 million. The foreign total of $159.2 million came mostly from Russia ($21 million), France ($19 million) and the U.K. ($14.2 million).

"Avatar" jumped in front of 2006's "The Da Vinci Code" ($232.1 million) as far as worldwide openings. The epic disaster flick "2012" dropped to number 11 with $230.5 million. "Avatar" will set a new record for a film that is not a sequel once the figures are verified.

In case you're wondering, the all-time record for a worldwide debut was set in July by "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince". That film took in $394 million.