Ho ho ho, who didn’t go to the movies this weekend? The Christmas three days is surprisingly not one of the biggest money-makers for Hollywood. Looking at last year at this time when Marley & Me took the top spot, you would know it. Marley took in only $36.4 million, and the year before, National Treasure: Book of Secrets topped the box office with $35.7 million. It’s sad that Holiday 2004 was the highest grossing Christmas weekend on record, when Meet the Fockers made $46.1 million. A mess of likely moneymakers are always released on or a few days before December 25^th. They rarely meet expectations, though. This weekend, however, Hollywood was happy with what Santa left in its stocking.

Avatar, in its second weekend, remained at #1 taking in an estimated $75 million, down a barely noticeable 2.6% from last weekend’s haul of $77 million. That’s pretty freaking amazing. It deserves every penny. Matt saw the movie just a few days ago and was raving about it, following up on my glowing review of the film from last week. I’m very happy that audiences chose to see this with their families rather than Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel. James Cameron’s latest has a total amount of $212.3 million domestic, becoming the tenth fastest movie to reach $200 million (the first being The Dark Knight, respectively). Avatar helped this weekend be the highest grossing of all time.

Not too far away from the $75 million that Cameron’s Avatar took in this weekend, Guy Ritchie’s first major American movie Sherlock Holmes debuted with $65.4 million. The film, despite our negative review, was received moderately, earning a 69% on Rotten Tomatoes. The massive opening is easily the best for either a Ritchie or Robert Downey Jr. film. Behind Sherlock is Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, with $50.2 million. My hatred for this franchise aside, that launch is pretty impressive. It beats the first Chipmunks movie’s kick off in the 2007 holiday weekend of $44.3 million. I take it that families brought their related families to see the movie, since I imagine nobody who quote-unquote “likes” movies cared to see it at all. The Squeakquel finished with a 24% rotten rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Out of the top three, writer-director Nancy Meyers’ new film It’s Complicated did rather well considering what it was up against, managing $22.1 million. The biggest opening for a Meyers movie still comes from 2000’s What Women Want. That movie held the top spot with $33.6 million. I had a great time watching Complicated, and I’m glad to see it didn’t get lost in the clutter with audiences. Rounding out the top five is Jason Reitman’s Up in the Air with $11.8 million. The film definitely benefitted from its nationwide release on December 23^rd, going onto 1,720 more screens and up 266.2% from last weekend. The movie’s likeliness to be nominated for multiple Oscars and its positive reviews (89% positive on Rotten Tomatoes, Certified Fresh) certainly got more people into seats.

Out of the top five-

• Rob Marshall’s Golden Globe-nominated Nine entered 1,408 more theaters and went up 2,055.3% after its nationwide release on Christmas day, raking in an estimated $5.5 million and landing at #8.
• The Young Victoria, led by Emily Blunt, expanded onto 143 more screens and had an increased profit, bringing its weekend total to $604,000.
• In its debut weekend, Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassuss, Heath Ledger’s official last film, grossed $130,000 on only four screens, a $32,500 per screen average.

Here are the box office results according to studio estimates Sunday:

1. 1. Avatar…$75 million
2. 2. Sherlock Holmes…$65.4 million
3. 3. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel…$50.2 million
4. 4. It’s Complicated…$22.1 million
5. 5. Up in the Air…$11.8 million
6. 6. The Blind Side…$11.7 million
7. 7. The Princess and the Frog…$8.7 million
8. 8. Nine…$5.5 million
9. 9. Did You Hear About the Morgans?…$5 million
10. 10. Invictus…$4.4 million