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‘Avatar’ King of Box Office, ‘Sherlock Holmes’ Follows

Holiday weekend sets new record for ticket sales in US theaters

Dec 28, 2009 12:26 GMT  ·  By
Guy Ritchie’s “Sherlock Holmes” opens second at the US box office, after “Avatar”
   Guy Ritchie’s “Sherlock Holmes” opens second at the US box office, after “Avatar”

For a short while there, it seemed that new release “Sherlock Holmes” from British director Guy Ritchie was about to take down James Cameron’s “Avatar” from the top position of the US box office. However, the holiday weekend ended with the latter still atop, bringing yet another $75 million domestically, while “Holmes” lingers behind with $65.4 million, the Wall Street Journal reveals.

It was, in short, a record weekend for the US box office, total grossing amounting to over $270 million, more that back in the summer of 2008, when “Dark Knight” was released. Partly responsible for this is Cameron’s “Avatar,” which, now with $100+ million in domestic sales, is slowly but surely heading for an overall gross of over $1 billion, industry insiders predict.

“Imax locations have generated more than $39 million in ‘Avatar’ sales so far, Mr. [Greg Foster, Imax Corp.’s chairman] said. By way of comparison, he said it took ‘The Dark Knight’ six weeks to sell $45 million worth of Imax tickets – a level he expects ‘Avatar’ to achieve after just 13 days in theaters. Based on its first 10 days in US theaters, ‘Avatar’ ticket sales rank ninth among blockbusters at that mile marker, behind hits including ‘The Dark Knight,’ ‘Spider-Man’ and this year’s ‘The Twilight Saga: New Moon’,” WSJ writes.

Of course, coming in second was still an excellent feat for the new release “Sherlock Holmes,” which rounded up the holiday weekend with $65.4 million in ticket sales. Another new arrival just in time for Christmas was “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel,” which took in an amazing $50.2 million, followed by Nancy Meyer’s “It’s Complicated,” starring Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin, with $22.1 million. At number 5, we find George Clooney’s “Up in the Air,” with $11.8 million, followed by “The Blind Side” at number 6, with $11.7 million.

“The Princess and the Frog,” “Nine,” “Did You Hear About the Morgans?” and “Invictus” have also made it in the top 10 most popular movies in US theaters this weekend, with ticket sales under $8.7 million.