"Avatar" continues to storm weekend box office _English

Cast members Zoe Saldana (L) and Sam Worthington pose at the premiere of "Avatar" at the Mann's Grauman Chinese theatre in Hollywood, California December 16, 2009. The movie opens in the U.S. on December 18.

Cast members Zoe Saldana (L) and Sam Worthington pose at the premiere of "Avatar" at the Mann's Grauman Chinese theatre in Hollywood, California December 16, 2009. The movie opens in the U.S. on December 18. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
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LOS ANGELES, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- "Avatar" continued to storm weekend box office, generating another 75.6 million dollars over the weekend, according to Hollywood.Com Box- Office on Monday.

With the new earning, the James Cameron-directed 3-D sci-fi love story, has boosted its two-week domestic take to 212.7 million dollars.

Director of the movie James Cameron and his wife Suzy Amis pose at the premiere of "Avatar" at the Mann's Grauman Chinese theatre in Hollywood, California December 16, 2009.

Director of the movie James Cameron and his wife Suzy Amis pose at the premiere of "Avatar" at the Mann's Grauman Chinese theatre in Hollywood, California December 16, 2009. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
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"Sherlock Holmes" debuted in second place, grossing 65.3 million. The film, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, also set a record for the single-best Christmas day opening gross -- 24.8 million -- replacing "Marley and Me" and its 14.7 million debut exactly a year earlier.

"Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" opened in third, raking in 48.8 million; followed by "It's Complicated," starring Meryl Streep and Alex Baldwin, which debuted in fourth place with a 22.1 million take.

Rounding out the top 10 were "Up in the Air" (11.75 million), "The Blind Side" (11.73 million), "The Princess and the Frog" (nine million), "Nine" (5.4 million), "Did You Hear About the Morgans" (five million) and "Invictus" (4.3 million).

Cast members Zoe Saldana (L), Sam Worthington (C) and Sigourney Weaver attend the premiere of "Avatar" at the Mann's Grauman Chinese theatre in Hollywood, California December 16, 2009.

Cast members Zoe Saldana (L), Sam Worthington (C) and Sigourney Weaver attend the premiere of "Avatar" at the Mann's Grauman Chinese theatre in Hollywood, California December 16, 2009. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
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The weekend's dozen top-grossing movies generated a combined 263. 9 million, up more than 47 percent from the 179.5 million earned by the 12 top movies during the same period a year earlier.

Year-to-date movie revenue for 2009 totals 10.37 billion, up 9.24 percent from the box office take in the same period in 2008.

Movie attendance this year is up 5.14 percent compared with last year's attendance figures.