Box Office Report : Jan 22 – 24, 2010

All box office grosses for North America. * Budget is estimated.

Bringing in another $34.9M this weekend, “Avatar” broke another record held by Titanic for largest week 6 gross, which was $25.2M. “Avatar’s” total domestic gross stands at $551.7M, 80% of that gross is from 3D showings alone.“Avatar” currently sits at $1.842B worldwide and will beat “Titanic’s” $1.843B gross Tuesday evening. After becoming the #1 grossing movie of all time, “Avatar” still has a chance of crossing the $700M mark domestically.

“Legion”, starring Paul Bettany was released to $17.5M gross for a surprisingly good $7,069 per theater gross. Although off to a promising start, January might prove a rocky road for horror following “Daybreakers” 65.8% week 2 drop and 70.1% week 3 drop. With a production budget of only $26M,“Legion” should be successful depending upon its second week.

“The Book of Eli” dropped 52% in its second week to $15.7M bringing its 10-day total to $60.7M. At this pace, it still has a good chance to hit the $100M mark. “The Tooth Fairy” starring The Rock debutedwith $14.0M to a mild $4,190 per theater average. The Rock’s last live action role was “Race to Witch Mountain” and that debuted at $24.4M. “The Tooth Fairy” might have a hard time recouping its costs unless it proves to have legs. On the other hand, “The Lovely Bones” did not have any legs in its second week of wide release grossing $8.4M down 50.5%. With $31.2M in the bank so far it might be able to see a disappointing final gross of $50-55M.

“Sherlock Holmes” eased to 6th place with $6.6M bringing its total to $191.1M. A final gross of $210-215M should be in the cards being that there are no surprises at the Oscars.“Alvin and The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel” fell to 7th place with “The Tooth Fairy” providing an alternative option for kids this weekend. Breaking the $200M mark this weekend with another$6.4M, a total of $230M is possible for the Squeakquel.

“Extraordinary Measures” flopped this weekend with only $6M for an average per theater gross of $2,359. Look for this movie to disappear in the coming weeks with not much more than $20M. Brendan Fraser’s next attempt at success “Furry Vengeance” is scheduled to be released Apr.2, 2010.

“It’s Complicated” continued enjoying a lucrative run bringing in another $5.8 coming in just shy of $100M. Total gross could wind up between $115-120M. “The Spy Next Door” dropped 52.9% in its second week down to 10th place, disappearing quickly; the Jackie Chan starrer might find its way to $25M.

Next week we have the return of Mel Gibson in his first starring role in 7 years, “Edge of Darkness” and also the romantic comedy “When in Rome”.

Look for Box Office Report every Monday night.