'Avatar' Leads Record-Breaking Weekend at Box Office

Movies making money.

Avatar, James Cameron's $300 million spectacle about giant blue cat people from outer space, was atop the weekend box office for a second week in a row and, along with Sherlock Holmes and a trio of Chipmunks, helped push overall sales to a new record.

Avatar raked in a whopping $75 million over the three-day Christmas weekend, pushing its 10 day total to $213 million. The film's international total reached $405 million, as the rush of movie-goers worldwide has yet to slow for the scifi extravaganza.

Avatar's performance was at the top of a record-breaking weekend for studios. The top 12 films grossed $278 million, beating the mark set in July of 2008 by a pack of films led by The Dark Knight.

Finishing in a strong second-place this weekend was Sherlock Holmes. The Guy Ritchie film, about the famous English sleuth (Robert Downey Jr.) and his assistant (Jude Law), had a very strong showing with $65 million in its opening weekend. It also set a Christmas Day opening record of $24.8 million.

In third place with just over $50 million was the cartoon Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel. Amazingly, the little rodents managed to place seventh on the all-time list of December openings.

Rounding out the top five this weekend were It's Complicated, starring Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin, with $22.1 million, and the critically-acclaimed George Clooney drama Up in the Air, with $11 million.