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Avatar was pushed from top spot for a day, but came back to comfortably win its fifth straight weekend, according to studio estimates released on Sunday. With another $41.3 million in the bank, Avatar was down just 18% from last weekend (helped somewhat by the MLK long weekend), and will pass $500 million on Monday after just 32 days in release, easily beating the record held by The Dark Knight (see chart). It also tops Titanic's record for the biggest fifth weekend at the box office (see chart).

Lurking beneath all the Avatar hoopla, The Book of Eli posted an excellent opening weekend with a particularly strong $11.6 million opening day and $31.6 million over the weekend. That puts it just about level with Paul Blart: Mall Cop, which has the second-highest January opening behind Cloverfield (see chart). It also slots in behind American Gangster as Denzel Washington's second-best opening.

The Lovely Bones also had a good weekend with an estimated $17.06 million after a slightly bumpy ride in limited release. Paramount did a good job repositioning its marketing after it dropped out of serious awards contention.

Even The Spy Next Door didn't do too badly, opening with an estimated $9.7 million in spite of very weak reviews.

In limited release, The Last Station was outstanding with $81,704 in a single theater. Look for more awards buzz around the performances of Helen Mirren and Christopher Plummer in the weeks to come.

- Weekend Estimates
- Friday Estimates
- Saturday Estimates
- Sunday Estimates
- Updated Avatar Comparison Chart

- All-Time North American Chart
- All-Time Worldwide Chart
- Biggest Fifth Weekends at the Box Office
- Biggest Weekends in January
- Fastest Movies to $500 Million at the North American Box Office Weekend Estimates: Avatar Wins Again - The Numbers


Weekend Estimates: Avatar Wins Again

January 17, 2010

Buy at AllPosters.com

Avatar was pushed from top spot for a day, but came back to comfortably win its fifth straight weekend, according to studio estimates released on Sunday. With another $41.3 million in the bank, Avatar was down just 18% from last weekend (helped somewhat by the MLK long weekend), and will pass $500 million on Monday after just 32 days in release, easily beating the record held by The Dark Knight (see chart). It also tops Titanic's record for the biggest fifth weekend at the box office (see chart).

Lurking beneath all the Avatar hoopla, The Book of Eli posted an excellent opening weekend with a particularly strong $11.6 million opening day and $31.6 million over the weekend. That puts it just about level with Paul Blart: Mall Cop, which has the second-highest January opening behind Cloverfield (see chart). It also slots in behind American Gangster as Denzel Washington's second-best opening.

The Lovely Bones also had a good weekend with an estimated $17.06 million after a slightly bumpy ride in limited release. Paramount did a good job repositioning its marketing after it dropped out of serious awards contention.

Even The Spy Next Door didn't do too badly, opening with an estimated $9.7 million in spite of very weak reviews.

In limited release, The Last Station was outstanding with $81,704 in a single theater. Look for more awards buzz around the performances of Helen Mirren and Christopher Plummer in the weeks to come.

- Weekend Estimates
- Friday Estimates
- Saturday Estimates
- Sunday Estimates
- Updated Avatar Comparison Chart

- All-Time North American Chart
- All-Time Worldwide Chart
- Biggest Fifth Weekends at the Box Office
- Biggest Weekends in January
- Fastest Movies to $500 Million at the North American Box Office

Filed under: Weekend Estimates, The Last Station, The Spy Next Door, The Book of Eli, Avatar, The Lovely Bones