February 1st, 2010 | 
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1. “Avatar” ($30 million)
2. “Edge of Darkness” ($17.1 million)
3. “When in Rome” ($12.1 million)
4. “Tooth Fairy” ($10 million)
5. “The Book of Eli” ($8.8 million)
To the surprise of absolutely nobody, “Avatar” once again topped the box office charts this past weekend for its seventh straight weekend victory. Following the $30 million haul, James Cameron’s latest film sits atop a domestic money pile worth $594.5 million and is well within days of eclipsing “Titanic’s” current record of $600.8 million.
Beating “Titanic” at the domestic box office is more or less the last meaningful record that “Avatar” has to break. Early last week, the science fiction epic secured its place as the highest grossing film of all time, having brought its worldwide tally up to $2.04 billion. Despite the victory, many are quick to point out that “Avatar’s” current record isn’t adjusted for inflation or the significantly higher cost for 3-D ticket purchases. But even with those exceptions in mind, there’s absolutely no denying the unprecedented success this movie has enjoyed in only seven weeks in theaters.
In the world of non-”Avatar” news, Mel Gibson’s return to the spotlight in “Edge of Darkness” wasn’t able to slow down the 3-D epic’s momentum, taking home a $17.1 million second place medal. Newcomer “When in Rome” and holdover “Tooth Fairy” took the third and fourth place slots while Denzel Washington’s “The Book of Eli” earned a fifth place finish worth $8.8 million.
Although it didn’t crack the top five, “Crazy Heart” nonetheless left the weekend with a solid $2.3 million over just 239 theaters, translating to a $9,414 per screen average. On the opposite end of the spectrum was “Extraordinary Measures,” the Harrison Ford and Brendan Fraser film that earned only $2.6 million from Friday to Sunday, a 57% drop from its debut last weekend.
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Posted in Theatre Movie