James Cameron’s migraine-inducing blockbuster has now moved ahead of the top-selling video game, Activision Blizzard’s Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2.
During the respective titles’ opening weeks, the shoot-em-up game easily took the honours, reflecting how the games industry has moved ahead of Hollywood overall (it’s also taking discretionary dollars from the music industry).
Today, Activision announced the latest Call of Duty instalment has now taken in $US1 billion at retail since its November release.
By contrast, Avatar has now taken $US431 million at the US box office, and a further $US910 million worldwide, for a grand total of $US1.34 billion.
So movies have edged ahead again in popular affection?
Hardly.
For its December quarter, analysts expect Activision (NAS: ATVI) to clock around $US2.23 billion in total revenue - more than any Hollywood studio’s for the entire year (top was Warner with $US2.1 billion; see chart here).
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Avatar passes Call of Duty - but top video game still earns $US1b
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