Avatar on top form
2009-12-27 22:24
Los Angeles - Reigning champ Avatar easily beat newcomer Sherlock Holmes at the Christmas holiday box office in North America after a closely followed duel that saw both films post sizzling sales, according to studio estimates issued on Sunday.
Avatar, a costly 3-D extravaganza from Titanic director James Cameron, earned $75m during the three days beginning December 25, said distributor 20th Century Fox.
The film lost just 3% of its opening-weekend audience as its 10-day total soared to $212.3m across the US and Canada.
British director Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes followed with $65.4m, two days after setting a Christmas Day opening record of $24.8m.
The film, in which Robert Downey Jr reinvents the ascetic Victorian sleuth as a dashing superhero, was released by Warner Bros Pictures. Industry observers had predicted an opening of at least $50m.
New at No 3 was Fox's Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, with $50.2m for the three days, far exceeding the studio's forecasts.
Since opening on Wednesday, the follow-up to the worldwide 2007 hit has earned $77.1m. The studio had been hoping for a three-day haul of $35m and a five-day sum of about $50m.
It's Complicated, a new Universal Pictures comedy starring Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin, was a distant No 4 with a solid $22.1m.
20th Century Fox is a unit of News Corp. Warner Bros. is a unit of Time Warner Inc. Universal Pictures is a unit of General Electric Co.