Avatar Tops Record-Breaking Holiday Weekend

Published by Jeff Leins on December 27, 2009

In its second week in theaters, James Cameron’s Avatar topped the largest weekend box office in history that totaled an estimated $264 million in sales.  The figure may be even higher once the final numbers shake out on Monday.

Cameron’s 3D epic contributed $75 million, the second biggest second weekend in history just behind The Dark Knight’s July 2008 run.  Typically movies will see around a 50% decline between weekends, but Avatar managed to drop only 2.6% from its opening on the way to $212 million domestic and already rank 7th in 2009 grosses.

On top of that, it added another $145 million overseas for an unbelievable worldwide total thus far of $617.3 million.

Warner Bros’ Sherlock Holmes put up equally impressive numbers, setting the Christmas Day record with $24.9M on the holiday opening before tallying $65.4 million through Sunday.  Outside of Iron Man, it’s the biggest weekend for stars Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Rachel McAdams, and director Guy Ritchie.

Fox’s Alvin and the Chipmunks 2 took Wednesday when it opened and settled into third over the weekend with $50.2 million.  The original kid flick made $44.2M in December 2007.

In fourth was yet another newcomer, the older-skewing It’s Complicated, with Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, and Steve Martin.  The Nancy Meyers rom-com made $22.1 million.

The top five was rounded out by Jason Reitman’s awards hopeful film, Up in the Air.  The George Clooney drama expanded to around 1,900 locations for $11.8 million.

Star-studded musical Nine didn’t see those kinds of returns as it went wide, making only $5.5 million in eighth.

The recession hasn’t affected movie studios one bit.  Thanks to Cameron’s sci-fi story, Fox reported it crossed $2.263 billion in foreign markets alone, the largest ever for a studio.  Meanwhile, Warner Bros passed the $2 billion mark domestically, the first time in history.

3-Day U.S. Weekend Estimates:
1. Avatar  $75 million
2. Sherlock Holmes  $65.4 million
3. Alvin and the Chipmunks 2  $50.2 million
4. It’s Complicated  $22.1 million
5. Up in the Air  $11.8 million
6. The Blind Side  $11.7 million
7. The Princess and the Frog  $8.7 million
8. Nine  $5.5 million
9. Did You Hear About the Morgans?  $5 million
10. Invictus  $4.4 million