LOS ANGELES - James Cameron's space fantasy 'Avatar' has launched with a solid $27 million opening day at the box office.
Storms in the East likely will hurt the movie's prospects to approach the December opening weekend record of $77.2 million set by Will Smith's 'I Am Legend.'
'`Avatar' did almost as much business Friday as Cameron's last narrative film, 1997's 'Titanic,' over its entire opening weekend.
'Titanic' had a $28.6 million debut weekend, but remained afloat for months at the top of the box office as it took in a record $600 million domestically.
Set in the 22nd century, `Avatar' stars Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana in a story of a human-alien conflict on a distant moon.
