James Cameron’s VERY expensive and HIGHLY anticipated sci-fi epic, Avatar, opened huge this weekend– despite the major storm that hit the east coast, which kept many regular movie-goers indoors. The film, which mixes live action with computer generated graphics and 3-D special effects, raked in $73 million dollars in the U.S., but grossed a whopping $159 million overseas!

At this rate, the movie is projected to recoup well over the $400 million dollars it cost to make the film. We’re sure someone at the movie’s production company is breathing a HUGE sigh of relief this morning!

The movie revolves around human/alien military conflict and love interests on a distant planet in the future, and stars Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana.

Ticket sales (U.S.) for this weekend were as follows:

1. “Avatar,” $73 million.

2. “The Princess and the Frog,” $12.2 million.

3. “The Blind Side,” $10 million.

4. “Did You Hear About the Morgans?”, $7 million.

5. “The Twilight Saga” New Moon,” $4.4 million.

6. “Invictus,” $4.2 million.