Weekend Box-Office 1 - Jan. 8-10

By Chase Kahn

(All numbers are estimates provided by Nikki Finke at Deadline-Hollywood)

1. Avatar (20th Century Fox) - $48.5 million
2. Sherlock Holmes (Warner. Bros) - $16.7 million
3. Alvin & The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (Fox) - $16.3 million
4. Daybreakers (Lionsgate) - $14.5 million
5. It's Complicated (Universal) - $11 million
6. Leap Year (Universal) - $9.5 million
7. The Blind Side (Warner Bros.) - $7.5 million
8. Up in the Air (Paramount) - $7.1 million
9. Youth in Revolt (The Weinstein Company) - $6.5 million
10. Princess and the Frog (Disney/Buena Vista) - $4.5 million


Well, the post-holiday boost is gone, and even against three new releases, Avatar held quite well, easily winning the weekend and now up to $429 million domestically after four weeks, and that's before the Oscar boost will kick in at the start of February. Sherlock Holmes meanwhile, continues to perform well, although the Warner Bros. guys have to be thinking, "what if?" in regards to Avatar's success. Even in the same demographic, for Holmes to be able to surpass $200 million directly against one of the biggest movies of all-time is nothing to sneeze at.

Among the new releases, Daybreakers performed the best, proving that vampires are still very much in. With a $15 million opening weekend, Lionsgate has a winner on their hands, considering the meager budget and the lengthy post-production schedule.

Leap Year disappointed for Universal, not even cracking past the studios own It's Complicated, which has been out for three weeks and continues to show good legs, while Youth in Revolt is another bomb for the Weinsteins, whose late-season shuffling (Nine, The Road, Youth in Revolt) proved to be ill-advised.

Meanwhile, Up in the Air has quietly grossed $54 million domestically for Paramount, which should soften the blow from The Lovely Bones failure, which will finally open in wide release next week, with poor limited runs and bad reviews on its ledger.