UPDATED: Monday 12/28/09
Over the Christmas holiday weekend, folks bought movie tickets like they were the best bargains in town. Despite the blizzard type weather in some parts of the country and those enticing markdown deals at the malls and stores, Americans went to the movies in huge numbers. And that produced one of the best Box Office weekends ever.
James Cameron’s 3D sci-fi epic “Avatar” managed to keep a firm hold onto the number one spot for the second week in the row with an estimated $75.6 million. The blockbuster has packed screenings all week long, especially on Christmas Day. Its domestic total is now around $212 million.
Newcomer “Sherlock Holmes” came on strong and, at one point, was battling neck-and-neck with “Avatar” for the top spot. In the end, “Avatar” pulled ahead, but the Guy Ritchie directed action/crime /drama made an impressive showing in second place by raking in around $62.3 million. Based on the fictional 19th Century detective created by Arthur Conan Doyle, “Sherlock Holmes” stars Robert Downey Jr. as the brilliant sleuth and Jude Law as his faithful sidekick Dr. Watson.
In third, the debut of “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel” directed by Betty Thomas.The family-friendly animated flick had a buffo opening with an estimated $49 million.This is the sequel to the popular 2007 film, “Alvin and the Chipmunks.” Apparently audiences can’t get enough of the famous singing trio.
The new romantic comedy, “It’s Complicated” scored around $22 million to land in fourth. The film is written and directed by Nancy Meyers and stars Meryl Streep, Steve Martin, and Alec Baldwin. Streep plays a divorced woman who gets tangled up in a love triangle with her ex and a new man.
And it was a tough fight for fifth place, between the comedy/ drama “Up in the Air” and the football drama, “The Blind Side.” Today later numbers showed, “The Blind Side” took fifth with $11.4 million, followed by “Up in the Air” in sixth with $11.2 million.
