It wasn’t even close. A lot of people assumed that Edge of Darkness the new Mel Gibson vehicle would be the first film that could reasonably have a chance to dethrone the juggernaut called Avatar. Well that clearly didn’t happen seeing as Avatar made nearly twice as much as it did this weekend. Yup, Avatar made another 30 million dollars in its seventh week. Jeez!  I’m out of things to say about it, but as for everything else — go beyond the break and find out…

While Avatar continued its record breaking ways, Edge of Darkness limped into the second spot, only procuring a 17 million dollar tally. Seeing as the budget is 80 million, it’s a safe bet that this movie has got a lot of work to do if it looks to pull any profit. I wonder how big Mel is over seas. The other major release, When in Rome, came in third with a ho hum 12 million. That’s about what was expected. I’m sure the budget is comparable to Leap Year so it should break even before realize how lame it is. The Rock (I refuse to call him Dwayne Johnson) stood tall and The Tooth Fairy maintained the 4th position, dropping les than 30 percent. This no means it’s a hit, but it should pull down more scratch than the comparable Spy Next Door did. The Book of Eli rounds out the top five for what is most likely its last appearance… at least in the top five.

Legion fell like a fallen angel into the 6th spot, losing 60 percent of its audience in the second week. That said it has already made its budget back. Yay for them I guess. Meanwhile the final four films are just reminding us how little great material there I to see at the movies at the moment. The Lovely Bones, Sherlock Holmes, Alvin and the Chipmunks and It’s Complicated all got released over a month ago and are still sticking around as we enter February. OK, technically Lovely Bones had a very limited release, but don’t jump on my point. If anyone thinks this spring movie season is as bountiful as last year, well their case is getting harder to make. And no, Avatar doesn’t count.

Next week we have big guns and snail mail — together at last! Until then…

1. AVATAR (30.0 MIL • 594.4 MIL • 300 MIL)

2. EDGE OF DARKNESS (17.1 MIL • 17.1 MIL • 80 MIL)

3. WHEN IN ROME (12.0 MIL • 12.0 MIL • N/A)

4. THE TOOTH FAIRY (10.0 MIL • 26.1 MIL • 48 MIL)

5. THE BOOK OF ELI (8.7 MIL • 74.3 MIL • 80 MIL)

6. LEGION (6.8 MIL • 28.6 MIL • 26 MIL)

7. THE LOVELY BONES (4.7 MIL • 38.0 MIL • 65 MIL)

8. SHERLOCK HOLMES (4.5 MIL • 197.5 MIL • 90 MIL)

9. ALVIN & THE CHIPMUNKS: THE SQUEAKUEL (4.0 MIL • 209.2 MIL • 75 MIL)

10. IT’S COMPLICATED (3.7 MIL • 104 MIL • 85 MIL)

Weekend Total • Domestic Gross • Budget