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Fourth goes to Avatar, as it spends its last weekend as the only film in release in 3D. Avatar earned another $14 million in its 11th weekend and has another sublime drop of only 14%. Next weekend becomes really interesting for Avatar, as Tim Burton and Alice in Wonderland are coming to a 3-D theatre near you, and reviews are already strong. How far will Avatar fall over the weekend that precedes Oscar night – 50%? 60%? Avatar crossed the $700 million mark on Saturday, its 72nd day of release. Where Avatar ends up will depend on the next two weekends ahead, but for now it should celebrate earning $706.9 million so far.

Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief moves down one spot to fifth this weekend, but has a much better hold than its 51% plunge last weekend. The Lightning Thief earned another $9.8 million and dropped a much better 36%. The $95 million Fox film now has a running total of $71.2 million, and could still see $100 million before the end of its run, but Alice In Wonderland may have something to say about that.

Valentine's Day drops to sixth, as the bad film that fell 70% last weekend falls four spots from second place. Valentine's Day earned $9.5 million in its third frame, and dropped 43%. The Warner Bros. flick has now earned $100.4 million against a budget of only $52 million.

Dear John has turned into a big win for Screen Gems, as it sits in seventh after four weekends of release. Dear John earned only $4.1 million (falling 30%), but has a gross so far of $72.6 million. As bad as it is, Dear John cost its makers only $25 million, and it looks to finish with about $85 million.

Eighth goes to a very sad Wolf Man, as Universal's idea to bring back the big horror monsters of old has flopped. The Wolf Man earned only $4.1 million and dropped a nasty 58% after dipping 69% last weekend. After opening to $31.5 million, the $150 million Wolf Man can only muster a running total of $57.2 million.

Tooth Fairy manages a ninth place finish this weekend – its sixth – as The Rock has managed to keep this one in the top ten for a long time, despite both the idea and the film being completely awful. This weekend, Tooth Fairy earned $3.5 million and dropped 21%. The $48 million Fox film has now pulled in $53.9 million.

Tenth goes to Crazy Heart, the film with a good shot for a Best Actor win for Jeff Bridges next week. Crazy Heart earned $2.5 million and dropped 11%. The $7 million Fox Searchlight flick has now taken in $25.1 million.

Overall, the box office is way up over last year. In 2009, Tyler Perry was repeating on top with Madea Goes to Jail, as the Jonas Brothers concert movie flopped. A year ago, the top 12 films brought in $87.2 million. This year, with a strong top six, the box office took in $108.1 million. This sets up for a strong weekend in the next frame, when Alice In Wonderland comes to town.

Top Weekend Box Office for 2/26/10-2/28/10 (Actuals)
Rank	Film	Distributor	Estimated Gross	Actual Gross	Weekly Change	Running Total
1	Shutter Island	Paramount	$22,200,000	$22,665,205	- 44.8%	$75,541,271
2	Cop Out	Warner Bros. Pictures	$18,565,000	$18,211,126	New	$18,211,126
3	The Crazies	Paramount	$16,521,000	$16,067,552	New	$16,067,552
4	Avatar	20th Century Fox	$14,000,000	$13,655,274	- 15.9%	$706,560,068
5	Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief	Twentieth Century Fox	$9,800,000	$9,583,421	- 37.2%	$70,998,280
6	Valentine's Day	Warner Bros. Pictures	$9,505,000	$9,063,036	- 45.6%	$99,916,240
7	Dear John	Screen Gems (Sony)	$5,000,000	$4,808,498	- 32.6%	$72,432,096
8	The Wolfman	Universal	$4,123,265	$4,259,865	- 56.9%	$57,380,125
9	Tooth Fairy	20th Century Fox	$3,450,000	$3,425,333	- 21.3%	$53,841,454
10	Crazy Heart	FOX SEARCHLIGHT	$2,540,000	$2,462,384	New	$25,009,496
11	The Blind Side	Twentieth Century Fox	$1,295,000	$1,238,477	- 14.7%	$248,755,981
12	The Book of Eli	Warner Bros.	$1,130,000	$1,112,493	- 41.1%	$92,506,955
	Also Opening/Notables
	A Prophet	Sony Classics	$170,354	$170,354	New	$170,354
	The Yellow Handkerchief	Samuel Goldwyn	$42,000	$37,296	New	$37,296
	Toe To Toe	Strand	N/A	$5,205	New	$5,205
	The Ghost Writer	SUMMIT	$870,000	$789,064	New	$1,048,233
	My Name Is Khan	FOX SEARCHLIGHT	$254,319	$254,221	New	$3,634,423
	From Paris With Love	Lionsgate	$1,030,000	$1,055,240	- 60.4%	$23,324,666
	Edge of Darkness	Warner Bros. Pictures	$1,040,000	$1,017,209	- 54.7%	$42,170,286
	When in Rome	Touchstone Pictures	$1,015,000	$1,003,452	- 42.3%	$30,861,655
	Up in the Air	Paramount	$835,000	$802,081	- 23.8%	$82,078,918
Click here for all weekend data
Box office data supplied by Exhibitor Relations

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