Top Shelf at the Box Office: 2/8/10

1. Dear John- $32.4M
Dear John, not based on the terrible Judd Hirsch TV series by the way, dethroned the might Avatar after 7 straight weeks atop the box office heap. Based on the Nicholas Sparks book about two young, Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried, dealing with him being sent off to war. Sparks has a huge following, particularly amongst women, after his 2004 film The Notebook captivated audiences. But this is still something of a surprise, as most expected this to do good but not great numbers. As it stands, Dear John has the highest grossing domestic opening on Super Bowl weekend evah! Oh, and 84% of the audience was women. If that shocks you you'd be also surprised to note that bears crap in the woods.

2. Avatar- $23.6M/$630M
That must've been a pretty stinging Dear John letter Avatar woke up to in the morning, although I'm sure it's tempered by the fact that it's now the highest grossing domestic release of all-time, finally surpassing James Cameron's Titanic. It's worldwide gross now stands at $2.21B.  Guh.

3. From Paris with Love- $8.12M

The worst weekend debut in ten years for Mr. Travolta, and considering some of the turds he's laid out that's really saying something. Lionsgate has already jumped out ahead of this by blaming the east coast blizzard for it's lack of business, but considering the two films ahead of it did phenomenal business that claim rings hollow.

4. Edge of Darkness- $7M/$29.1M
Sadly, the latest actioner from Mel Gibson already feels like an afterthought.

5. Tooth Fairy- $6.5M/$34.3M
The sad thing is, this is going to end up making more money than almost anything in the Best Picture category this year.

6. When in Rome- $5.5M/$20.9M
Not even Romans could be enticed to sit through this crap.

7. The Book of Eli- $4.83M/$82.2M

8. Crazy Heart- $3.65M/$11.2M
The first Oscar contender to get a bump from it's nomination, Crazy Heart is seeing it's first week anywhere near the Top 10 after almost two months in limited release. Jeff Bridges is the odds on favorite to win the Best Actor award this year.

9. Legion- $3.4M/$34.6M

10. Sherlock Holmes- $2.63M/$202M