'Avatar' Still Rules Box Office, Becomes America's Seventh-Highest Grosser

The Sam Worthington-starring sci-fi has collected a total domestic cume of 429 million dollars, which surpassed the 423 million dollars tally by 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest'.

On its fourth weekend, "Avatar" came out unchallenged on North American Box Office. This James Cameron's sci-fi has managed to secure the top spot with an estimated $48.5 million, dropping only 29.2% in ticket sales. So far, the movie has collected $429 million domestically.

The number has made "Avatar" the 2009's highest grossing film in the U.S., beating out "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen". The Sam Worthington-starring film, moreover, has passed "Spider-Man" and "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" to become America's seventh-highest grosser all time. By the next weekend, "Avatar" is expected to jump four more spots to become No. 3 on the U.S. all-time list.

Earlier the week, on January 7, this big budget film has been claimed as the second-highest worldwide grosser ever with a total of $1.14 billion. It beat out 2003's "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of The King" which gained $1.12 billion tally worldwide.

Following "Avatar" was "Sherlock Holmes", which still sat on the second place since it was released on December 25, 2009 and added another $16.6 million. Meanwhile, 20th Century Fox's "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" secured the third position with an approximately $16.3 million, making a total domestic haul of $179.2 million.

The fourth place went to newcomer "Daybreakers", which has just been released on January 8. The Ethan Hawke's vampire action flick collected an estimated $15 million. Rounding up the top five was "It's Complicated", which took in an approximately $11 million.

Top Ten Movies at Box Office for January 8-10:

1. "Avatar" - $48.5 million
2. "Sherlock Holmes" - $16.6 million
3 "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" - $16.3 million
4. "Daybreakers" - $15 million
5 "It's Complicated" - $11 million
6. "Leap Year" - $9.2 million
7."The Blind Side" - $7.8 million
8."Up in the Air" - $7.1 million
9."Youth in Revolt" - $7 million
10."The Princess and the Frog" - $4.7 million