Weekend Fix: You Try Coming Up With A Creative Avatar Headline Every Day For Five Weeks!

Can you guess who won the four-day weekend?  It shouldn't be too hard these days... even if the headline is a complete giveaway.  Once again, Avatar stormed the box office, exceeding expectations for the umpteenth time and grossing $54.6 million over the four-day holiday weekend!  With a total gross of $505 million, and a worldwide total above $1.6 billion, Titanic's record will be officially sunk within a month, especialy after Avatar took home the Golden Globe for Best Picture last night.  In other news, The Book Of Eli found solid numbers during its opening weekend, and if Denzel Washington's post-apocalyptic thriller can find some legs, it could become a $100 million hit.  The Spy Next Door's $13 million debut wasn't much to talk about, but The Lovely Bones' debut is!  The poorly reviewed Peter Jackson film managaed to find $20.5 million over the four day weekend- consider it a benefactor of low expectations!  While the Golden Globes helped It's Complicated, Up In The Air, Sherlock Holmes, and The Blind Side see small declines, Daybreakers and Youth In Revolt both plummeted in their sophomore frames.  Overall the Top 12 earned $193 million, down a small 2% from the same weekend last year, but still very strong.  Watch the video above for my take on the extended weekend, then check below for the full 4-day weekend chart, as well as the 3-day chart listed beneath that!

4-Day Weekend:

Top 12 Box Office Hits For January 15-18, 2010

Rank	Movie	Studio	Theaters	4-Day Weekend	Chg	AVG.	Total
1	Avatar	Fox	3285	$54,600,000	9%	$16,621	$505,067,893
2	The Book Of Eli	Warner Bros	3111	$38,020,000	New	$12,221	$38,020,000
3	The Lovely Bones	Paramount	2563	$20,538,000	-	$8,013	$21,005,000
4	Alvin And The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel	Fox	3296	$15,000,000	-10%	$4,551	$196,091,893
5	The Spy Next Door	Lionsgate	2924	$13,000,000	New	$4,446	$13,000,000
6	Sherlock Holmes	Warner Bros	3173	$11,725,000	-29%	$3,695	$181,918,000
7	It's Complicated	Universal	2673	$9,596,070	-17%	$3,419	$90,147,895
8	Leap Year	Universal	2512	$7,058,720	-25%	$2,760	$18,759,890
9	Up In The Air	Paramount	2107	$6,658,000	-7%	$3,160	$64,031,000
10	The Blind Side	Warner Bros	2408	$6,530,000	-13%	$2,712	$227,739,000
11	Daybreakers	Lionsgate	2523	$6,300,000	-58%	$2,497	$25,490,000
12	The Princess And The Frog	Disney	1777	$4,015,000	-14%	$2,259	$97,544,000

All Numbers Provided By Exhibitor Relations Co.

3-Day Weekend:

Top 12 Box Office Hits For January 15-17, 2010

Rank	Movie	Studio	Theaters	Weekend	Chg	AVG.	Total
1	Avatar	Fox	3285	$41,300,000	-18%	$12,572	$491,767,005
2	The Book Of Eli	Warner Bros	3111	$31,615,000	New	$10,162	$31,615,000
3	The Lovely Bones	Paramount	2563	$17,060,000	-	$6,656	$17,500,000
4	Alvin And The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel	Fox	3296	$11,500,000	-31%	$3,489	$192,591,843
5	Sherlock Holmes	Warner Bros	3173	$9,825,000	-41%	$3,096	$180,018,000
6	The Spy Next Door	Lionsgate	2924	$9,700,000	New	$3,317	$9,700,000
7	It's Complicated	Universal	2673	$7,671,510	-30%	$2,870	$88,223,335
8	Leap Year	Universal	2512	$5,877,840	-36%	$2,340	$17,529,050
9	The Blind Side	Warner Bros	2408	$5,565,000	-26%	$2,311	$226,774,000
10	Up In The Air	Paramount	2107	$5,460,000	-24%	$2,591	$62,823,000
11	Daybreakers	Lionsgate	2523	$5,000,000	-67%	$1,982	$24,190,000
12	Youth In Revolt	Weinstein	1873	$2,821,891	-59%	$1,507	$11,960,923

All Numbers Provided By Exhibitor Relations Co.