Avatar’s box office dominance is getting boring.  Dropping only 17.9% over the three-day weekend, James Cameron’s science fiction saga earned an estimated $41.3 million and became the first film since The Sixth Sense in 1999 to lead the box office for five consecutive weeks.  Avatar should bolt past the $500 million mark on Monday and will soon surpass The Dark Knight to become the second highest-grossing film ever at the domestic box office.  Yes, its burgeoning totals have been boosted by high 3-D and IMAX ticket prices, but Avatar, which has become the film that everyone has to see, has demonstrated “legs” not seen on a film in the past decade.

Avatar’s dominance obscured a solid opening for the Hughes’ brothers The Book of Eli starring Denzel Washington, which earned a solid $31.6 million during its opening weekend.  Peter Jackson’s film of The Lovely Bones also went wide last weekend and surpassed expectations with an estimated $17 million.  Holdovers Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakwell and Sherlock Holmes took the fourth and fifth spots while the Jackie Chan babysitting movie, The Spy Next Door, debuted weakly at number six. 

Universal’s It’s Complicated, which stars Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, and Steve Martin, continues to perform very well as do Warner Bros.’ The Blind Side and Paramount’s Up in the Air.  Of the three films that debuted last week, Universal’s Leap Year, which declined just 36.7% fared the best.  Lionsgate’s vampire saga Daybreakers tumbled 67% (the kind of drop that is all too common with horror films), while the Weinstein Company’s Youth in Revolt, which stars Michael Cera, fell 59%.