Big Apple earthlings braved turning blue from the cold yesterday to be among the opening-day crowds for the sci-fi fantasy “Avatar.”

A spokesman for Twentieth Century Fox said that based on early reports, he expected the movie to exceed the company’s opening-weekend expectations for ticket sales.

The movie-ticket Web site Fandango said “Avatar” represented “about 85 percent of all ticket sales Friday” on the site nationwide.

“It owns the marketplace this weekend in terms of advance ticket sales,” said Fandango spokesman Harry Medved.

“The action scenes are cool,” said Michael Howlett, 30, of The Bronx, after seeing the 3-D flick.