Box Office: 'Avatar' wins it yet again!

Weekend of January 15 – 27, 2009: 'Avatar' prevails!

James Cameron’s sci-fi epic “Avatar” held on to the No. 1 spot at the North American box office one more time this weekend with another solid $41.3 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Fox’s “Avatar” lost the top spot to “The Book of Eli” Friday but regained momentum Saturday to win the weekend race with an average of $12,572 per theater at 3,285 locations. The film’s total currently stands at $491.7 million.

Debuting in second place was Albert and Allen Hughes’ post-apocalyptic action flick “The Book of Eli,” which bagged $31.6 million from ticket sales at 3,111 locations. Starring Denzel Washington, the film follows a loner on his journey to protect a book.

At No. 3, Peter Jackson’s “The Lovely Bones” picked up $17 million after expanding into $2,563 theaters. Based on the famous novel of the same title, the film lifted its early total gross to $17.5 million after several weeks in limited release.

“The Spy Next Door,” this weekend’s other wide release, only made it to sixth place with $9.7 million from ticket sales at 2,924 locations. Jackie Chan plays a spy who babysits his girlfriend’s kids and must protect them from Russian terrorists.

Still doing fine at the box office was “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel,” which slipped to No. 4 with a weekend gross of $11.5 million. The sequel brought its domestic total to $192.5 million after a solid four-week run.

Meanwhile, Guy Ritchie’s “Sherlock Holmes” dropped to fifth place, generating another $9.8 million for a cumulative gross of $180 million. “It’s Complicated” finished seventh with a three-day gross of $7.6 million and a total of $88.2 million.

At No. 8, Anand Tucker’s romantic comedy “Leap Year” pulled $5.8 million, reaching a cume of $17.5 million. Following at No. 9 with $5.5 million was “The Blind Side,” which lifted its domestic total to an impressive $226.7 million.

Rounding out the top 10 this weekend was Jason Reitman’s “Up in the Air,” which brought its total haul to $62.8 million after earnings of $5.4 million.

Looking ahead, next week’s wide releases include “Extraordinary Measures” with Harrison Ford, “The Tooth Fairy” with Dwayne Johnson, and “Legion” with Paul Bettany.

Source: Box Office Mojo (www.boxofficemojo.com)