1. "Dear John" ($32.4 million)
2. "Avatar" ($23.6 million)
3. "From Paris With Love" ($8.1 million)
4. "Edge of Darkness" ($7 million)
5. "Tooth Fairy" ($6.5 million)
At long last, "Avatar" has fallen. James Cameron's widely embraced science fiction epic finally fell from its position at the top of the box office charts this weekend, surrendering the first place medal to newcomer "Dear John," the romantic drama starring Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried.
"Dear John" took in $32.4 million over the course of the weekend, yielding an unprecedented result for films based upon Nicolas Sparks' novels. In their opening weekends, "The Notebook" and "Nights of Rodanthe" each took in $13.5 million and $13.4 million, respectively. "Dear John" easily dashed those numbers by earning $13 million on Friday alone and has already surpassed its production budget of $25 million.
While "Avatar" is no longer the current box office champion, it's still the undisputed king of the cinematic world. Since its opening, "Avatar" has become the highest grossing film of all time. Of course, the numbers for "Avatar" haven't been adjusted for inflation, but there's still no denying the adventure film's incredible success.
"From Paris With Love," Pierre Morel's action movie starring John Travolta and Jonathan Rhys Meyers, earned $8.1 million over the course of the weekend. The soft opening is likely due to Super Bowl festivities occupying the attention of the film's target audience.
Fourth and fifth place went to "Edge of Darkness" at $7 million and "Tooth Fairy" at $6.5 million. "When in Rome" held the fifth place spot as of Friday's numbers but ultimately left the weekend in sixth place with $5.5 million.
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