Jack-in-the-Box Office for the weekend of February 5-7

We knew the 'Avatar' reign wasn't going to last forever (and frankly I'm glad it's over as it makes getting out of bed on Sunday morning to write this column far more interesting). But 'Dear John?' Really people?

The teen war-romance scored $32.4 million in its opening weekend, beating out Avatar's $23.6 (which is still the highest grossing 8th weekend of a movie ever). 'Dear John' became the highest grossing Super Bowl opening weekend ever. While the big game was likely what accounted for a big part of 'Avatar's' 25% decline (its second highest weekend decline thus far). Still, since today's Box Office numbers are only based on estimates for Super Bowl Sunday, this week it will be especially interesting to see how the weekend numbers are affected once actual figures come in tomorrow.

In other top five news, 'From Paris with Love' debuted at third place with $8.1 million. Compared to other films of a similar ilk (the $24.7 Super-Bowl opening weekend of 'Taken' last year in particular) it's hard not to see this as disappointing. In fourth place was 'Edge of Darkness' in its second weekend, grossing $7 million to bring its domestic total to $30 million. While domestic Box Office ultimately may lead to a very small percentage of a film's total gross (after overseas box office, DVD revenues, etc.), the film's 60% decline makes it seem unlikely that the film will make back much more of its $80 budget in its U.S. theatrical run (foreign figures were not available at this time). In fifth place is 'Tooth Fairy' which made $6.5 million dollars this weekend to bring its domestic total to $33.3 million. The more important figure is its worldwide gross of $59.7 million, which eclipses the amount of its $48 million budget. Another Box Office success story!

In per-screen-average news, the three-part British crime saga the 'Red Riding Trilogy' made $15,000 on one screen in it's debut weekend in New York, with an L.A. release at The Landmark coming soon. 'Terribly Happy,' the thriller Denmark submitted for Oscar consideration but failed to receive a nomination, made $13,000 dollars on one screen, reportedly in Washington D.C..

If you, like me, wouldn't be able to name the two teams playing today if you tried, than please take a minute to leave a comment here on how you feel about either this column or how any film did at the Box Office this weekend. And if you're choosing to venture out to your local theater today, then maybe I'll see you at the movies.