‘Avatar’ Continues Box Office Dominance

Showing no signs of slowing down, “Avatar” led at the box office in its fourth week of release. The $48.5 million over the weekend brought the total domestic gross of James Cameron’s 3D juggernaut to $429 million, making it the highest-grossing movie released in 2009 (“Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen” brought in $402 million).

Three new releases did little to slow down the sci-fi epic’s box office draw: vampire horror fest “Daybreakers” brought in $15 million, good enough for fourth place; romantic comedy “Leap Year” came in sixth with $9.1 million; the quirky Michael Cera farce “Youth In Revolt” earned $7 million, rolling in ninth.

Here’s the Top Five, courtesy of BoxOfficeMojo.com”

WEEKEND TOP 5 STUDIO ESTIMATES, JANUARY 8-10, 2010

Rank. Movie Title (Distributor)
Weekend Gross | Theaters | Total Gross | Week #

1. Avatar (Fox)
$48.5 million | 3,422 | $429.0 million | 4

2. Sherlock Holmes (Warner Bros.)
$16.6 million | 3,626 | $165.2 million | 3

3. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (Fox)
$16.3 million | 3,641 | $178.2 million | 3

4. Daybreakers (Lionsgate)
$15.0 million | 2,523 | $15.0 million | 1

5. It’s Complicated (Universal)
$11.0 million | 2,955 | $76.4 million | 3