‘Dear John’ Takes Down ‘Avatar’ at US Box Office

“Sherlock Holmes” came very close to ending “Avatar’s” rule at the US box office, but failed at the last minute to top its grossing. Since then, James Cameron’s latest film has ruled atop the US and international box office for seven consecutive weeks – but this came at an end over the weekend, when drama “Dear John” came out first, as the BBC informs.

Starring Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfriend as two lovers whose romance is abruptly interrupted by the September attacks, “Dear John” has proved to be just the perfect contender to the throne held so tightly by “Avatar” until just not long. Nevertheless, that doesn’t change the fact that the latter still remains atop internationally or that it has a grossing that goes far beyond that of “Titanic,” which has made of it the biggest selling movie ever made in the history of cinema.

“The film, starring Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried as lovers whose romance is curtailed by the 11 September attacks, took $32.4m (£20.6m). James Cameron’s Avatar took $23.6m (£15.2m) after seven weeks at number one, raising its domestic total to $630.1m (£405m). John Travolta film From Paris With Love opened at three with $8.1m (£5.2m),” the BBC says of how movies fared at the domestic box office this weekend.

“Dear John, based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks, had not been expected to surpass the other-worldly epic but performed considerably better than its estimated box office figure of $20m (£12.8m). It also had a record opening for Super Bowl weekend – traditionally a quiet weekend in cinemas – topping the $31.1m (£20m) debut for Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert in 2008,” the same source says.

Figures released hours ago show that Mel Gibson’s latest film, “Edge of Darkness,” brought in $7 million to occupy fourth position, while “Tooth Fairy” is fifth with $6.5 million. “When in Rome,” “The Book of Eli,” “Crazy Heart,” “Legion” and “Sherlock Holmes” round up the top ten.