Avatar claimed the title of highest-grossing second weekend ever, narrowly edging out The Dark Knight's $75.2 million, after dipping only 2% from its opening weekend's numbers. $57.9 million of its Christmas haul was from 3D sites, a new record for the format. After 10 days, Avatar's domestic total sits at a lofty $212.7 million, and with its $410.9 million foreign take, James Cameron is once again king of the world as his latest film's worldwide total is at a staggering $623.6 million.

The new wide releases all pulled their weight, with Sherlock Holmes leading the pack. The star power of Robert Downey, Jr. helped vault the film into 2nd place with a $62.4 million bow, and its Friday take of $24.6 million handily set the new record for best Christmas day opening. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (I want to destroy that title) meanwhile defied all odds by not only being worse than the original, but out-grossing it as well. It had a weekend haul of $48.9 million for 3rd place, and tallied with its Wednesday opening, the film has hit an unconscionable five-day total of $75.6 million. Numbers like that have me living in terror that a third installment is inevitable. Thanks a lot, kids.

Nancy Meyer once again showed that romantic comedies with adults over 50 years old do, in fact, have an audience. It's Complicated's 4th place debut with $22.1 million outdid Meyer's Something's Gotta Give, anchored by Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin's on-screen indiscretions. The Blind Side kept up its impressive run, rounding out the top 5 with $11.5 million.]]>

Between Christmas falling on a Friday and a slew of strong new releases, this past weekend became the highest-grossing ever as Avatar repeated at the number 1 spot with a smashing $75.6 million.

Avatar claimed the title of highest-grossing second weekend ever, narrowly edging out The Dark Knight’s $75.2 million, after dipping only 2% from its opening weekend’s numbers. $57.9 million of its Christmas haul was from 3D sites, a new record for the format. After 10 days, Avatar’s domestic total sits at a lofty $212.7 million, and with its $410.9 million foreign take, James Cameron is once again king of the world as his latest film’s worldwide total is at a staggering $623.6 million.

The new wide releases all pulled their weight, with Sherlock Holmes leading the pack. The star power of Robert Downey, Jr. helped vault the film into 2nd place with a $62.4 million bow, and its Friday take of $24.6 million handily set the new record for best Christmas day opening. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (I want to destroy that title) meanwhile defied all odds by not only being worse than the original, but out-grossing it as well. It had a weekend haul of $48.9 million for 3rd place, and tallied with its Wednesday opening, the film has hit an unconscionable five-day total of $75.6 million. Numbers like that have me living in terror that a third installment is inevitable. Thanks a lot, kids.

Nancy Meyer once again showed that romantic comedies with adults over 50 years old do, in fact, have an audience. It’s Complicated’s 4th place debut with $22.1 million outdid Meyer’s Something’s Gotta Give, anchored by Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin’s on-screen indiscretions. The Blind Side kept up its impressive run, rounding out the top 5 with $11.5 million.

Up in the Air expanded wide to 1,895 theaters and grossed a healthy $11.3 million for 6th place, but The Princess and the Frog and Nine, to a greater extent, both failed to gain any traction as they finished with $9 million and $5.5 million, respectively. In the specialty market, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus bowed with $124,743 across 4 sites, or a solid $31,186 per-theater average.

There won’t be any new releases until the week after New Years, when a middling trio of wide openers will compete with this past weekend’s juggernauts. Vampire action-thriller Daybreakers hits theaters alongside Amy Adams’ romantic comedy Leap Year and Michael Cera’s teen comedy Youth in Revolt. Leap Year is definitely the easiest sell here so I expect it to finish ahead of the pack, though strong reviews and word-of-mouth makes Daybreakers a dark horse. Youth In Revolt will most likely finish third because though it is also receiving a lot of positive buzz, the film has a bigger mountain to climb with its niche target audience and the Weinstein Company/Dimension’s history of disappointing box office returns. Michael Haneke’s Cannes Palm d’Or winning drama The White Ribbon opens this Wednesday in limited release as well. The year-end record is 58 for 82, or 71%.

Check out the top 12 below, or head on over to Box Office Mojo for the full weekend chart:

New releases highlighted in yellow

Despite heavy snowstorms across the American Northeast, James Cameron's sci fi epic Avatar hauled in an estimated $73 million over the weekend to take the top spot at the box office. That figure put Avatar into the record books as the highest grossing debut ever for a non-sequel/remake/adaptation, and also made it the second-highest opening in December behind just I Am Legend's $77.2 million back in 2007.

Heavy snowfall bombarded the East Coast over the weekend, which saw marked declines starting Saturday as the brunt of the storm hit. Still, Avatar managed to get a good number of folks to the theater, with 3D presentations accounting for about $52 million of the gross. IMAX doesn't report its numbers until Monday, but company reps are already saying the film has broken every major IMAX record. An additional $159.18 million came in through international territories, which brought Avatar's worldwide debut up to a whopping $232.2 million. With movies traditionally gaining steam through Christmas, Avatar is already well on its way to making back its sky-high budget and becoming another stellar blockbuster hit for Cameron.

The other new wide release, Did You Hear About The Morgans?, made virtually no noise in its opening and managed only $7 million for 4th place. Last weekend's number 1, The Princess and the Frog, fell to second with a $12.2 million showing and brought its total to a so-so $44.8 million. The Blind Side continued its strong run and came in 3rd with $10 million, while The Twilight Saga: New Moon rounded out the top 5 with $4.4 million (and just barely edged out Invictus' 6th place, $4.2 million weekend).]]>

Updated: Variety is now reporting that Sunday numbers were stronger than expected, with Avatar’s final tally being $77.3 million to finish ahead of I Am Legend as the best December opening ever.

Despite heavy snowstorms across the American Northeast, James Cameron’s sci fi epic Avatar hauled in an estimated $73 million over the weekend to take the top spot at the box office. That figure put Avatar into the record books as the highest grossing debut ever for a non-sequel/remake/adaptation, and also made it the second-highest opening in December behind just I Am Legend’s $77.2 million back in 2007.

Heavy snowfall bombarded the East Coast over the weekend, which saw marked declines starting Saturday as the brunt of the storm hit. Still, Avatar managed to get a good number of folks to the theater, with 3D presentations accounting for about $52 million of the gross. IMAX doesn’t report its numbers until Monday, but company reps are already saying the film has broken every major IMAX record. An additional $159.18 million came in through international territories, which brought Avatar’s worldwide debut up to a whopping $232.2 million. With movies traditionally gaining steam through Christmas, Avatar is already well on its way to making back its sky-high budget and becoming another stellar blockbuster hit for Cameron.

The other new wide release, Did You Hear About The Morgans?, made virtually no noise in its opening and managed only $7 million for 4th place. Last weekend’s number 1, The Princess and the Frog, fell to second with a $12.2 million showing and brought its total to a so-so $44.8 million. The Blind Side continued its strong run and came in 3rd with $10 million, while The Twilight Saga: New Moon rounded out the top 5 with $4.4 million (and just barely edged out Invictus‘ 6th place, $4.2 million weekend).

In the specialty market, Rob Marshall’s Nine bowed spectacularly to the tune of $247,000 at 4 theaters, or a weekend-best $61,750 average. Crazy Heart also fared well, with $84,200 at four sites for a $21,050 average.

Avatar will face some stiff competition next week when Sherlock Holmes bows at theaters. Likewise, It’s Complicated will come into the picture with Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, which I still can’t believe is getting a theatrical release (TELL ME those ads don’t look like direct-to-DVD hooey). Incidentally, that’s also the order that I think the new releases will finish in next week. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus will open in limited release as well. The record stands at 57 for 79.

Check out the top 12 below, or head on over to Box Office Mojo for the full weekend chart:

New releases highlighted in yellow

Today morning, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced its nominations for the 67th annual Golden Globe Awards (in a televised event hosted by Justin Timberlake, John Krasinski, and Diane Kruger). Up in the Air scored the most nominations with six, while Rob Marshall's Nine was right behind with five nominations. Avatar and Inglourious Basterds tied for third with four nominations each.

In the running for Best Drama are Avatar, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, Precious and Up in the Air. (500) Days of Summer, The Hangover, It's Complicated, Julie & Julia, and Nine will compete for the Best Musical or Comedy award. I'm glad to see a non-traditional film like The Hangover score a nom, and I'd love to see (500) Days of Summer win, but I think it's a foregone conclusion that the usually-safe HFPA is going to dish the Golden Globe to Nine (which isn't to say that Marshall's film isn't fully deserving of the prize).

Hit the jump to see what we thought of the other nominations, as well as a look at the full list of nominees!

Invictus, the other new wide opener, was unable to gain a foothold in its debut however. Bowing in 3rd place with $9.1 million, the figures were rather disappointing for the star-studded pedigree of the movie's cast and crew. Director Clint Eastwood and stars Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon were unable to drum up enough interest in the political/sports hybrid picture, perhaps due to the South African and Rugby setting not clicking with American audiences.

The Blind Side, last week's reigning champ, fared much better. The football movie held on to 2nd place with only a 23% drop, pulling in $15.5 million in its fourth weekend of release for a $150.2 million total. The Twilight Saga: New Moon continued its steady decline with a 48% drop to $8 million, good enough for 4th place. A Christmas Carol however only dropped off 11.5%, with its holiday theme aligning with the Christmas mood. It finished in 5th place with $6.9 million, bringing its total to $124.5 million. The box office has been particularly strong this year as, in the middle of last week, 2009 officially became the highest grossing year in Hollywood history (though the attendance record in the modern era still belongs to 2002).]]>

Disney’s The Princess and the Frog took the top spot at the weekend box office, expanding wide to earn an estimated $25 million. While not shattering too many records (though it did set the record for highest grossing start for an animated movie in December), Princess‘ numbers were strong considering how 2D animation has declined in recent years. Also, the family-friendly flicks typically build steam through the Christmas season, where slow and steady tends to win the race.

Invictus, the other new wide opener, was unable to gain a foothold in its debut however. Bowing in 3rd place with $9.1 million, the figures were rather disappointing for the star-studded pedigree of the movie’s cast and crew. Director Clint Eastwood and stars Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon were unable to drum up enough interest in the political/sports hybrid picture, perhaps due to the South African and Rugby setting not clicking with American audiences.

The Blind Side, last week’s reigning champ, fared much better. The football movie held on to 2nd place with only a 23% drop, pulling in $15.5 million in its fourth weekend of release for a $150.2 million total. The Twilight Saga: New Moon continued its steady decline with a 48% drop to $8 million, good enough for 4th place. A Christmas Carol however only dropped off 11.5%, with its holiday theme aligning with the Christmas mood. It finished in 5th place with $6.9 million, bringing its total to $124.5 million. The box office has been particularly strong this year as, in the middle of last week, 2009 officially became the highest grossing year in Hollywood history (though the attendance record in the modern era still belongs to 2002).

Up in the Air expanded to 72 theaters and grossed $2.5 million, cracking the top 12 for the 11th place spot. A Single Man bowed at 9 sites for $216,000, or a $24,000 per-theater average. Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones also debuted in limited release, hitting 3 theaters for $116,000, or a relatively underwhelming $38,667 average considering the blockbuster nature of the pic.

Next week sees James Cameron’s sci-fi epic Avatar open against the Hugh Grant-Sarah Jessica Parker comedy Did You Hear About The Morgans? The early reviews for Avatar have been extremely positive, and it’s certainly going to need to be a heck of a box office juggernaut to make back its purported $400+ million budget. It should beat out The Morgans handily (or let us hope it does, for all our sakes). In limited release, Jeff Bridges’ Crazy Heart will hit theaters, as will Rob Marshall’s star-studded musical drama Nine. The record stands at 55 for 77.

Check out the top 12 below, or head on over to Box Office Mojo for the full weekend chart:

New releases highlighted in yellow