As expected James Cameron's long-gestating 3D sci-fi spectacular Avatar jumps straight in to top the chart, posting the third biggest opening of the year with £8.5m in receipts including Thursday previews [read Trevor Hogg's three-part James Cameron profile right here]. Despite some stiff competition over the Christmas period Avatar should manage to hold firm thanks to the 3D appeal (with almost 80% of takings from 3D screens), and continue to add to its already impressive $240m+ worldwide gross. Another new release occupies second place in the form of St. Trinians 2: The Legend of Fritton's Gold, with the sequel just falling short of its predeccessor's opening weekend back in December 2007. Meanwhile last week's top film A Christmas Carol falls to third (aided no doubt by the huge loss in 3D screenings), but is yet to slip below this position despite being on release since the start of November. A Christmas Carol is showing remarkable legs much like the Brit comedy Nativity!, which continues to climb the chart and jumps two places to crack the top five for the first time and finish fourth ahead of animated adventure Planet 51.
Spike Jonze fantasy adventure Where the Wild Things Are continues to underperform and drops four places from its second-placed opening last week, while The Twilight Saga: New Moon falls two places to seventh ahead of crime thriller Law Abiding Citizen. The steepest decline this week is saved for low-budget horror Paranormal Activity, which plummets five places to ninth and looks about ready for the count with around £10m at the UK box office. Looking to finish its run with twice that amount is 2012, propping up the chart in tenth place after finishing eighth last time out.
| Pos. | Film | Weekend Gross | Week | Total UK Gross |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Avatar | £8,509,050 | 1 | £8,509,050 |
| 2 | St Trinian's 2: The Legend of Fritton's Gold | £1,586,832 | 1 | £1,586,832 |
| 3 | A Christmas Carol | £1,003,616 | 7 | £17,800,095 |
| 4 | Nativity! | £578,510 | 4 | £3,629,077 |
| 5 | Planet 51 | £451,420 | 3 | £3,240,615 |
| 6 | Where the Wild Things Are | £415,900 | 2 | £1,763,287 |
| 7 | The Twilight Saga: New Moon | £349,440 | 4 | £25,862,050 |
| 8 | Law Abiding Citizen | £307,104 | 5 | £5,452,528 |
| 9 | Paranormal Activity | £305,637 | 4 | £9,389,581 |
| 10 | 2012 | £171,827 | 4 | £19,211,971 |
Incoming...
A couple of releases will be looking to capitalise on the cold weather this Christmas week with Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel hitting screens yesterday (21st) and Guy Ritchie's big-budget version of Sherlock Holmes opening on Boxing Day. Expect both to do well, but top spot may be a little too much to ask against Avatar.
U.K. Box Office Archive
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