In its fourth weekend on the charts, James Cameron’s sc-fi epic Avatar continues to smash records. It’s now surpassed Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen to become the highest-grossing movie released in 2009, and is now the second-highest grossing movie worldwide, the first being Cameron’s own Titanic. I’m glad to see this, number one reason being that Avatar is a phenomenal movie in addition to being the only thing that everyone is talking about, and number two being how much I despise Michael Bay. This weekend Avatar fell 29.2% to gross an estimated $48.5 million, bringing its domestic total to $429 million.

The top three have remained the same for two weekends now, and this weekend is no different. $31.9 million away from Avatar at #2 was Sherlock Holmes, the new flick from director Guy Ritchie. The action-adventure period piece managed $16.6 million, bringing its grand sum to $165.2 million domestic in three weeks. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel stayed behind Holmes with $16.3 million, its domestic total $178.2 million. The sequel will likely make more than its 2007 predecessor in the coming weeks.

Daybreakers debuted at #4 with $15 million, surely benefiting from the positive reviews (64% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes). I can’t help feeling, though, that the Spierig brothers’ vampire thriller could’ve made more had Avatar not being as popular as it is, and if it held a PG-13 rating rather than a strict R. It’s Complicated rounds out the top five with $11 million, its total now $76.4 million.

Out of the top five:

• Leap Year, starring Amy Adams and Matthew Goode, couldn’t crack the top five. Coming in at #6, Anand Tucker’s rom-com took in a respectable but not impressive $9.2 million.
• Miguel Arteta’s Youth in Revolt appeared to only attract a small audience, debuting in ninth place with $7 million, though not far off from its $18 million budget.
• Tim Allen’s directorial debut Crazy on the Outside made $75,400 on 75 screens. Could an expansion increase that gross?
• Western documentary Sweetgrass opened with $10,400 on only one screen.

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

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