Box Office: ‘Avatar’, ‘Sherlock’, and ‘Alvin’ Break Records Over Holiday Weekend

It took an indigenous planet, a detective, and a trio of musical chipmunks to make Hollywood have a very merry Christmas. This holiday weekend witnessed numerous box office records being broken. Instead of coal under the tree, studio executives will be seeing dollar signs. The big winner of the weekend was once again James Cameron’s Avatar which took the top spot for a second weekend with an astonishing $75 million. For the record, that is less than a 2% drop from it’s opening weekend last week (where it banked $77 million.) Also, bringing in huge numbers were Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes and the animated kids movie Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel. Sherlock drummed up $62.3 million opening weekend and Alvin and company pulled in $48.8 million. Multiple records were broken this weekend. To see what those are and for a full weekend break down of the box office continue reading.

The big news of the weekend is the impressive box office returns for James Cameron’s sci-fi epic Avatar. Dropping less than 2% from it’s opening weekend (most blockbusters drop between 30-50%) Avatar has banked $212.7 million in two weeks of release. That number reflects only its domestic haul. The more impressive figure is how much the movie has made world wide. Yahoo is reporting that the worldwide gross for Avatar has reached $617.3 million! For those who followed the excessive hype leading up to Avatar, you may know that the estimated budget for the film was in the $500 million range. So for those nay-sayers out there: how do you like them apples?

Coming in at number two this weekend was Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey, Jr and Jude Law, Sherlock grossed $62.3 million opening weekend. Thanks to a Christmas day opening of $24 million, director Guy Ritchie has a massive holiday hit to be thankful for. In fact, Holmes actually broke the Christmas day record for both single day and opening day grosses. Look for these detectives to hold up strong as the new year approaches.

The number three spot went to Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel which opened on Wednesday the 23rd. Over the five day haul Alvin, Simon, and Theodore grossed $75.5 million with a $48.8 million three day weekend.

It’s Complicated (#4), the Nancy Meyers romantic comedy starring Alec Baldwin and Meryl Streep was a strong weekend contender with $22 million Friday-Sunday.

Sandra Bullock’s The Blindside took in $11.5 million for a fifth place finish.

Up in the Air, starring George Clooney expanded its release on the 23rd which helped it bank $11.2 million. The Golden Globe nominated drama from director Jason Reitman should pick up steam over the next few weeks from strong word of mouth.

The only Christmas release not to pull in stellar numbers was Rob Marshall’s musical Nine which made $5.4 million for an eighth place finish. I guess people were not feeling the song and dance movies this holidays season.

Overall the weekend box office was a dominating force this holiday weekend. The top twelve films grossed a whopping $259 million which makes this weekend the most profitable weekend ever at the box office. Avatar, Sherlock, and Alvin beat out The Dark Knight’s weekend from July 2008 which along with the other top 11 films held the record with $253 million.

Box Office numbers courtesy of Box Office Mojo.