Box Office Report: The unthinkable has happened!

Dude here again. Well, it finally happened. There are no records left for Avatar to break. It's technically the most successful motion picture in history. It broke the international take last week, and then this previous week, on the day it was nominated for 9 Oscars, it overtook the Titanic record. So there's nothing left to talk about regarding big blue, and it's time to move on.

Oh, and none of you give me that "Adjusted for inflation" bullshit, because that's stupid.

This weekend, a film least likely overtook the champ. And another release didn't overtake the champ. Let's go to the numbers, shall we? (All in millions, remember, and these are the studio estimates. The actuals will be available on Monday).

1. Dear John (ScrGm) - $32.4, 2969 screens, week 1, $32.4 total

2. Avatar (Fox) $23.6, 3000 screens, week 8, $630.4 total

3. From Paris With Love (LGF)- $8.1, 2722 screens, week 1, $8.1 total

4. Edge of Darkness (WB)- $7.0, 3066 screens, week 2, $29.0 total

5. The Tooth Fairy (Fox) - $6.5, 3218 screens, week 3, $34.3 total

6. When In Rome (BV)- $5.5, 2456 screens, week 2, $20.8 total

7. The Book of Eli (WB)- $4.8, 2820 screens, week 4, $82.1 total

8. Crazy Heart (FoxS)- $3.6, 819 screens, week 8, $11.1 total

9. Legion (ScrGm) - $3.4, 2339 screens, week 3, $34.6 total

10. Sherlock Holmes (WB) - $2.6, 1805 screens, week 7, $201.5 total

So those are the numbers, but what do they mean? Well, it means Dear John, a movie so cloying my ticket stub actually had sap dripping from it, managed to take in an impressive $32 million. It overtakes the Avatar and ensures that we'll have plenty more Nicholas Sparks' weepy adaptations. Hooray for that.

You know what's funny? Avatar arrives, this giant, 800 lb gorilla, and sits on top of the charts demanding money, and everybody pays until the records are broken, then it quietly leaves. At least, that's how I envision it.

John Travolta sent us From Paris With Love. Audiences replied "Return to sender". I love postal humor!

The Academy Award Nominations were announced this week, and the biggest boost given was to Crazy Heart, which actually opened on the same day as Avatar, and is now making an appearance in the top ten. The dude certainly does abide, doesn't he?

That Edge of Darkness flick probably didn't benefit from Mel Gibson calling a dude an asshole live on the air. However, that incident inspired me to actually go check it out now. I have a feeling in real life Mel's as crazy as Riggs. And that's just the tops.

What the hell is The Tooth Fairy still doing in the top 5?

Below the radar, The Red Riding Trilogy opened up on one screen. It took in $15,500 on that one screen. Pretty impressive, but I wonder how many people thought it was some sort of foreign fairy tale adaptation, and not Britain's answer to Zodiac?

So there, you have my amazing break down. Next week, a crap load of movies comes out, including the long awaited Wolfman, and a movie that looks even worse than Dear John AND He's Just Not That Into You COMBINED! It's going to be very exciting. Oh, Percy Jackson's next week, too! I'm willing to bet all the new releases cancel each other out, and Avatar reigns supreme once again. (It won't. That's a horrible bet. Avatar's done, moving on).

Until next weekend.......

(All Numbers courtesy of BoxOfficeMojo.com)