'Sherlock Holmes' Outsmarts 'Avatar' In The Saturday Box Office

1. "Sherlock Holmes" ($24.9 million)
2. "Avatar" ($23.5 million)
3. "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" ($14.5 million)
4. "It's Complicated" ($7.1 million)
5. "Up in the Air" ($3.6 million)

This weekend's battle of the blockbusters opened on Christmas Day yesterday in a close contest. Director Guy Ritchie's "Sherlock Holmes" just barely edged "Avatar" out of the top spot, with $24.9 million in ticket sales to the sci-fi epic's $23.5 million. Estimates pin both with a $70 million weekend, but the James Cameron flick has been turning in strong daily numbers, so a shortfall isn't out of the question.

Competing weekend openers "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" and "It's Complicated" eased into the three and four slots for Friday, respectively. "Alvin," which opened on Wednesday, added another $14.5 million in tickets last night, bringing its total to almost $40 million. "Complicated," the ensemble romantic comedy starring Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin, wasn't exactly trailing close behind the "Chipmunks," but its $7.1 million is respectable nonetheless.

"Up in the Air" benefited from a healthy expansion to almost 2,000 screens with $3.6 million in tickets on Friday. "Nine," which also opened wider, didn't fare as well. The Rob Marshall-directed musical inspired by Federico Fellini's "8 1/2" is now playing on roughly 1,400 screens but it sits in the number seven spot for Friday sales, with slightly less than $2 million earned.

It ended up being a close race for number five, with holiday surprise "The Blind Side" nearly blindsiding director Jason Reitman's "Juno" follow-up. The weekend isn't over yet though, and the numbers could fall either way.

The top of the box office is the real question mark this weekend though. "Avatar" and "Sherlock" are both known quantities in the public eye, and they're strong enough individually to demand repeat viewings from fans. Of course, when you're talking about having to choose between two fine works of event filmmaking during the traditionally busy Christmas weekend, there's no contest: everybody wins.

Let us know how you see the weekend shaping up and share your thoughts on what you've seen right here in the comments or with us on Twitter!

Tags Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, avatar, guy ritchie, It's Complicated, james cameron, jason reitman, nine, sherlock holmes, up in the air