So a lot of us were predicting that Universal Pictures’ The Wolfman would finally knock the king of the box office Avatar off of it’s royal throne, but unfortunately that does not appear to be the case. The surprising Friday success of the Nicholas Sparks novel based feature Dear John kicked the CGI animated/live action hybrid movie off of first place with $13.8 Million, reports Variety. The Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana starring feature only $6.1 Million, proving once and for all that despite all the constant groaning over said chick flick that women still go out in droves to see the latest tear-jerker.

Speaking of, Dear John hits a milestone for Screen Gems with this Friday opening. The last romance film under their belt to hit an all time high on it’s Friday opening was The Notebook with $13 Million. Since Dear John barely surpassed that, now it reigns supreme under that current company. Check out the rest of the Friday estimates below, and make sure you stick around sometime randomly this Sunday for the overall take of the weekend box office.:

Friday Box Office (February 5th)

1. Dear John  ($13.8 M)
2. Avatar  ($6.1 M)
3. From Paris With Love  ($3 M)
4. Edge of Darkness  ($2.3 M)
5. When in Rome  ($2 M)
6. Tooth Fairy ($1.6 M)
7. The Book of Eli  ($1.5 M)
8. Crazy Heart  ($1.08 M)
9. Legion  ($1.06 M)
10. Sherlock Holmes  ($785,000)

Tags: Avatar, Dear John, Friday box office, Screen Gems, weekend box office