‘Sherlock Holmes’ beats out ‘Avatar’ at Box Office

Los Angeles: British director Guy Ritchie`s ‘Sherlock Holmes’ set a Christmas Day sales record at the Box Office in North America, taking a narrow lead over last weekend`s champ, ‘Avatar,’ according to early estimates released on Saturday.‘Sherlock Holmes,’ in which Robert Downey Jr. reinvents the ascetic Victorian sleuth as a dashing superhero, earned $24.9 million during its first day of release on Friday, distributor Warner Bros. Pictures said.

The record for a Christmas Day opening was set last year when ‘Marley and Me’ launched with $14.4 million. ‘Avatar’ earned $23.5 million on Friday, taking the eight-day total for director James Cameron`s costly 3-D extravaganza to $160.8 million, said 20th Century Fox. Fox also released ‘Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel,’ which opened at No. 3 with $14.5 million. The family-oriented sequel got an early start on the holiday by opening on Wednesday, and its total stands at $41.3 million. Betty Thomas directed the follow-up to the 2007 live-action animated hit that grossed more than $360 million worldwide. Another new release, director Nancy Meyers` ‘It`s Complicated,’ followed at No. 4 after earning $7.1 million during its first day on Friday. The Universal Pictures comedy stars Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin. ‘Up in the Air’ rose three places to No. 5 in its first weekend of national release, with Friday sales of $3.7 million. Director Jason Reitman`s meditation on love and loneliness in corporate America has earned $16.4 million since Paramount Pictures released it in 15 theaters on December 4. The studios will release data for the Friday-Sunday period on Sunday. Warner Bros. is a unit of Time Warner Inc.. 20th Century Fox is a unit of News Corp.. Universal Pictures is a unit of General Electric Co.. Paramount Pictures is a unit of Viacom Inc.. Bureau Report