"Avatar" made it easy, but not as easy as it could've been if blizzards and other weather phenomena hadn't intervened.

The first film from James Cameron since "Titanic" in 1997 earned $73 million in its opening weekend and $159.2 million worldwide. That's still good news for the film, which had been receiving some negative buzz before some of the first official reviews based on Internet chatter and trailers that weren't received very well by filmgoers.

But word of mouth about the film has spread, including a high critical rating as tracked by sites like Rotten Tomatoes. When included with the other top 10 films, the overall North American box office earned $122.2 million ahead of Christmas, up more than 58 percent from the year before, according to The Hollywood Reporter. It's the fourth week in a row that box office receipts were higher than the year before.

"Avatar" still has a way to go before it can really make up the reported $300 million budget and start turning a profit, although if international screenings are included, that could happen as early as next week or the beginning of January.

Some have wondered if "Avatar" could follow up on the $1.8 billion worldwide take of "Titanic," but current more realistic estimates have "Avatar" hitting the $1 billion mark, a little more than half of Cameron's predecessor movie.

But it could have a good showing at the Oscars next year. There has already been some award buzz surrounding the film, especially after it picked up nominations for the Golden Globes and other early comers.

Unfortunately, "Avatar" won't break the December opening record currently held by "I Am Legend" in 2007 when it picked up $77.2 million.

Fox is expecting the movie to stick around for a while, especially as it skews to a slightly older audience, who is typically distracted during the holidays. Once the holidays end in a couple weeks, many of them could head to the theaters to check out "Avatar," and keep it strong in the top 10 going deep into awards season.

"Basically, every one of our seats was sold out through the weekend, and in many cases, for the next week," Greg Foster, president of Imax Film Entertainment, said of "Avatar" and the fact that it had such a strong opening in those theaters. "We shattered every record we have."

The biggest competition to "Avatar" and the top spot next weekend will be the Christmas release of "Sherlock Holmes" starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law. That film, directed by Madonna ex Guy Ritchie, has also been receiving some pre-release positive buzz.