The combination of Avatar, Sherlock Holmes, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel and other solid titles as well as Christmas landing on a Friday led to the highest-grossing weekend ever. Overall business came in at around $270 million, up 34 percent over the same timeframe last year and surpassing the previous high of $260.5 million set on July 18-20, 2008, when The Dark Knight andMamma Mia! debuted.

Living up to its hype as the event picture of the season, Avatar was monolithic with $75.6 million, down a mere two percent from its opening. Though boosted by the Christmas holiday, it nonetheless broke the record for highest-grossing second weekend ever, edging out The Dark Knight's $75.2 million. The sci-fi adventure's 3D sites accounted for a 3D-record-setting $57.9 million of the weekend, and the picture posted another rousing performance in IMAX, which contributed an estimated $8.8 million of the weekend gross. In ten days, its tally stands at a whopping $212.7 million, including $158.7 million from 3D sites. It also continued to fly overseas, grossing $152 million and lifting its total to $410.9 million. That puts its worldwide haul at $623.6 million in less than two weeks.