Avatar decimates the competition

Even though we reported that on Christmas Day that the Guy Ritchie directed film Sherlock Holmes was slightly getting the advantage of revenue, James Cameron’s flick Avatar managed to run away with it all during this holiday weekend. The mammoth of a feature took in $75 Million, making its domestic total about $212 Million. If you want to have a little bit of fun and add it together with the foreign box office, that’s about $615 Million all together. Obviously at this point you can call this a big time hit, it only figures that Cameron would be making that big of numbers with his film after a twelve year absence.

Do not forget though, Avatar did not end up reigning the box office without it’s share of competition. Like previously reported, Sherlock Holmes did give the flick a slight run for it’s money one day which means it more than likely made some cash, and it did. The movie, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, took in $65.3 Million for it’s opening weekend which shows the power of Downey Jr, the rest of the cast and what not. Following close behind is the hybrid animation and live action film Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel managed to make itself some profit estimating to be $50.2 Million. All I can say is I wonder how fast it will be until Holmes and the Chipmunks get greenlit for more sequels at this point.

Last but certainly not least is the Alec Baldwin and Meryl Streep romantic comedy of sorts called It’s Complicated which ended up taking in $22.1 Million. With a supposed price tag of $75 Million, this flick still has a ways to go to get even. On a fairly good note, it looks like the nationwide release of Jason Reitman’s feature Up in the Air gained itself a little more steam as it tallied up to bringing in $11.75 Million, already ridiculously close to making back it’s budget, hurray. At least it finally broke free from the tie stranglehold that it had on Christmas Day with The Blind Side, which to me is one of the surprise hits of the holiday season. Nine, however, is not looking too good since it only wrangled in $5.5 Million on it’s second weekend. You have to admit, it’s been one hell of a weekend for movies. Here’s the rest of the numbers for the weekend below from Box Office Mojo.:

Weekend Box Office (December 25-27)

1. Avatar  ($75 M)
2. Sherlock Holmes  ($65.3 M)
3. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel  ($50.2 M)
4. It’s Complicated  ($22.1 M)
5. Up in the Air  ($11.75 M)
6. The Blind Side  ($11.73 M)
7. The Princess and the Frog  ($8.6 M)
8. Nine  ($5.5 M)
9. Did You Hear About the Morgans?  ($5 M)
10. Invictus  ($4.3 M)

It’s time to get ready for the New Year, and with that means were going into the dead months. However, it’s not looking as incredibly bleak as it normally would be in the month of January. With that said, the releases start up on Wednesday, December 30th with a limited one for The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond and the New York and Los Angeles release of The White Ribbon. In January, you’ll just have to wait and see until the 8th for the releases of several films which I will touch upon during the next box office report. Happy New Year to you all.