As “Avatar” chalked up another weekend box office victory to its resume, it accomplished a far more important milestone–it topped “The Dark Knight” to become the second-highest domestic grossing film of all-time.
After adding $36 million to its total this weekend, “Avatar” now sits less than $50 million behind the gross for “Titanic,” the current record-holder and another film from director James Cameron.
Among new releases, “Legion” managed to claim the prize, landing in second place with $18.2 million. With “The Book of Eli” close behind at $17 million, fellow new release “The Tooth Fairy” settled for fourth with $14.5 million.
“The Lovely Bones” rounded out the top five with $8.8 million.
“Extraordinary Measures,” the only other major new release, landed at seventh with $7 million.
Weekend Top Ten:
1) Avatar – $36 million ($552.8 million)
2) Legion – $18.2 million
3) The Book of Eli – $17 million ($62 million)
4) The Tooth Fairy – $14.5 million
5) The Lovely Bones – $8.8 million ($31.6 million)
6) Sherlock Holmes – $7.1 million ($191.6 million)
7) Extraordinary Measures – $7 million
8) Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel – $6.5 million ($204.2 million)
9) It’s Complicated – $6.2 million ($98.7 million)
10) The Spy Next Door – $4.8 million ($18.7 million)