James Cameron's Avatar, Friday Box Office | featured news

Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese continue to lure movie-goers to "Shutter Island," while James Cameron's "Avatar" has surpassed $700 million domestically....

It was love that slayed the mighty "Avatar" -- or, at least, knocked it out of the top position at the boxoffice that it has commanded for the previous seven weeks. "Dear John" proved to be more popular than expected, taking in an estimated $13.8 million on Friday in 2,969 theaters.

"Avatar" grossed yet another strong $30 million over the weekend for a new domestic total of $594.4 million. That stunningly puts James Cameron's blockbuster only days away from passing "Titanic's" U.S. mark of $600 million. "Edge of Darkness" found a solid $17.1 million and "When in Rome" $`12.1 million.

Now that 20th Century Fox's Avatar is the highest grossing movie of all time (not adjusted for inflation or higher 3D ticket prices), it should pass $2 billion worldwide by early next week (its global total was $1,917,419,460 last Thursday). The pic's runaway success has answered all its critics, so there's not much more to say except, Wow!

FRIDAY PM/SATURDAY PM: Alcon Entertainment's Book of Eli has become the 1st movie to be #1 after the 28-day reign of Avatar. Sources tell me the Denzel Washington starrer distributed by Warner Bros with a we-be-cool marketing campaign made $12 million Friday from 3,111 theaters. That probably adds up to $35M for the 4-day long weekend -- exactly what the studio expected after weeks of really strong tracking and crossover appeal. Once again, the spotlight is back on Alcon's Princeton duo funded by FedEx boss Fred Smith whose daughter Molly brought the guys The Blind Side.

Continuing its reign atop the boxoffice, Fox's "Avatar" easily held on to the No. 1 spot Friday as it entered its fourth weekend, earning another $13.3 million.

Fox pic tops first box office of 2010 -- Twentieth Century Fox's "Avatar" jumped the $300 million mark on New Year's Day--its 15th day in release--grossing an estimated $25 million from 3,461 theaters for a cume of $308.8 million.

If there isn't significant attendance loss, then Hollywood is now estimating this pre-Xmas 3-day weekend's opening grosses at $80M -- or $27M for Friday including the midnight shows, then $30M on Saturday, and $23M on Sunday when most colleges and high schools are out Monday.