Robert Downey Jr, Jude Law in Sherlock Holmes (Alex Bailey / Warner Bros.) (top); Stephen Lang, Sam Worthington in Avatar (Mark Fellman / 20th Century Fox) (bottom)
According to the Box Office Mojo daily chart for Friday, for the second time this week James Cameron's sci-fi epic Avatar was the #2 movie at the US/Canada box office. On Wednesday, it fell behind Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel; on Christmas Day, it fell behind the Guy Ritchie-directed new release Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law.
Figures were pretty impressive: Sherlock Holmes took in $24.8 million, while Avatar (with higher ticket prices, but fewer venues) grossed $23.5 million (total $160.7m). Alvin and the Chipmunks was further behind with $14.5 million, followed by the Nancy Meyers-directed Meryl Streep-Alec Baldwin-Steve Martin comedy It's Complicated with a strong $7 million.
Sherlock Holmes now holds the Christmas Day box-office record. The previous record-holder was the Jennifer Aniston-Owen Wilson-Dog vehicle Marley & Me, which took in $14.5m last year. The fact that this year's Christmas fell on a Friday, a typical movie-going day, seems to have helped grosses. According to "experts," this will likely be the biggest Christmas weekend ever at the box office (with the usual assistance of higher ticket prices).
As for the pumped-up Sherlock Holmes battle against Avatar, the jury is still out as to which of the two will come out on top when the weekend is over. Avatar stars Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, and Sigourney Weaver. Also in the Sherlock Holmes cast are Rachel McAdams and Mark Strong.
Going down the box-office chart, Up in the Air earned a just okay $3.5m (or $1,873 per theater, about 25% less than It's Complicated) despite a spate of film awards and the presence of George Clooney, while the sentimental Sandra Bullock drama The Blind Side is still going strong with $3.3m. At #7, Rob Marshall's Nine, its stellar cast (Daniel Day-Lewis, Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard, Nicole Kidman, etc.) notwithstanding, grossed a disappointing $1.99m, or only $1,413 per screen.
At the bottom of the top-ten list were The Princess and the Frog ($1.95m), the major Hugh Grant-Sarah Jessica Parker flop Did You Hear About the Morgans? ($1.5m), and Clint Eastwood's box-office disappointment Invictus ($1.3m), starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon.
The Robert Pattinson-Kristen Stewart-Taylor Lautner vehicle The Twilight Saga: New Moon was #11, with $660,000 (total $278.6m), followed by Disney's A Christmas Carol, with $485,000 (total $135.1m).
Glad nine bombed. It sucked.
Doc Rock,
Thanks for the advice, though I've always been fully aware of the unreliability of news sources on the Internet — and elsewhere, for that matter.
Having said that, I must add that Box Office Mojo is as reliable as news sources get. My article, if you read it, covers earnings at the domestic box office on Christmas Day, not over the Christmas Weekend.
AVATAR was #2 on Christmas Day. It was #1 for the weekend (Fri.Sun).
Apparently 'Box Office Mojo" is an inept organization, as of Sunday the headlines are all reading "Avatar easily beats Holmes at the Box Office"
NEVER trust ANYTHING you read on the Internet before checking it out.
I just found out that Avatar is going to win this weekend let’s hope that happens as it turns out that way only.THIS XMAS WEEKEND BIGGEST EVER! ‘Avatar’ Back On Top For #1 Saturday By Beating ‘Sherlock Holmes’; ‘Squeakquel’ #3.
Read this article.
http://www.deadline.com/hollywood/first-look-alvin-2-beats-avatar/