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James Cameron's Avatar (20th Century Fox) continues to be one of the biggest box office phenomenons of the decade--much like Titanic in the prior decade--having grossed $350 million after just 17 days and crossing the one billion mark worldwide. It set a new Near Year's Day weekend box office record with its estimated $68.3 million, down just 10% from Christmas weekend and making it the highest third weekend gross for a movie domestically (surpassing the $45 million made by Spider-Man in 2002).

By next weekend, Cameron's comeback will hit the $400 million mark and by next Sunday, it should pass Michael Bay's Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen to become the highest-grossing movie of 2009, as well as breaking into the Top 10 highest-grossing movies (domestically) of all time.

Internationally, Avatar has grossed $670.2 million which brings its worldwide total to $1.02 billion, making it the fourth-highest grossing movie worldwide EVER, and that's after being in theaters for only 17 days, too. It has surpassed the worldwide gross for The Dark Knight and only needs $46 million more to beat Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. (Currently, Cameron's Titanic still holds the worldwide grossing record with $1.84 billion with $600 million of that domestically.)

What's so remarkable about the movie's success, besides how much of that money is being made in 3D and IMAX venues (with many daily sell-outs still being reported ), is that Avatar is also the biggest non-sequel since George Lucas' original Star Wars and Steven Spielberg's E.T.: The Extraterrestrial. By the end of January, it should have surpassed both of their non-adjusted box office takes. It's still a few days behind Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight, which had the benefits of opening in summer, while Avatar will be facing moviegoers' return to school and work starting tomorrow, so we'll have to see whether it can cross the $533 million mark to become the second-highest grossing movie after Cameron's own Titanic.

In non-Avatar box office news, Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes (Warner Bros.), starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, remained in second place with $38.4 million, but it took the biggest hit in the Top 10, dropping almost 39% from its opening Christmas weekend. It has grossed $140.6 million so far after ten days in theaters.

Also remaining in place at third, the family hit Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (20th Century Fox) brought in an estimated $36.6 million in its second weekend, bringing its total to $157.3 million.

Essentially, the top 7 movies remained the same with the Nancy Meyers romantic comedy It's Complicated (Universal), with Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin, staying in fourth, adding an estimated $18.7 million to its ten-day take of $59.1 million.

Sandra Bullock's hit drama The Blind Side (Warner Bros.) crossed the $200 million mark over the weekend, bringing in another $12.6 million - one of two movies that grossed more than it did over Christmas weekend.

Jason Reitman's Up in the Air (Paramount), starring George Clooney, made $11.3 million for sixth place with $45 million total. Disney's animated fantasy tale The Princess and the Frog placed seventh for the weekend with $10 million, also up over 10% from its Christmas weekend take. It has grossed over $86 million since opening in exclusive releases over Thanksgiving weekend.

The romantic comedy Did You Hear About the Morgans? (Sony) took eighth place with $5 million and $25.5 million total. (It was the only movie to move up one place.) Rob Marshall's musical Nine (Weinstein Co.) ended up at #9 (!), with $4.25 million and $14 million to date, followed by Clint Eastwood's Invictus (Warner Bros.) closing off the Top 10 with $4.1 million and $30.8 million so far.

The Top 10 grossed $209 million, up 70% from the first weekend of January last year. On top of that, it's been reported that the domestic box office amassed $10.5 billion in 2009, up nearly 10% over 2008, showing that the box office hasn't been affected by the economic crash as some may have expected.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented the 82nd Academy Awards on Sunday night. The Hurt Locker topped the night with 6 awards, including Best Picture and Kathryn Bigelow as Best Director - the first time a woman has won the award.

BEST PICTURE:
**Winner** The Hurt Locker (Summit Entertainment), A Voltage Pictures Production, Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier and Greg Shapiro, Producers
Avatar (20th Century Fox), A Lightstorm Entertainment Production, James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers
The Blind Side (Warner Bros.), An Alcon Entertainment Production, Gil Netter, Andrew A. Kosove and Broderick Johnson, Producers
District 9 (TriStar), A Block/Hanson Production, Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers
An Education (Sony Pictures Classics), A Finola Dwyer/Wildgaze Films Production, Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers
Inglourious Basterds (The Weinstein Company), A Weinstein Company/Universal Pictures/A Band Apart/Zehnte Babelsberg Production, Lawrence Bender, Producer
Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire (Lionsgate), A Lee Daniels Entertainment/Smokewood Entertainment Production, Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers
A Serious Man (Focus Features), A Working Title Films Production, Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers
Up (Disney•Pixar), A Pixar Production, Jonas Rivera, Producer
Up in the Air (Paramount), A Montecito Picture Company Production, Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers

DIRECTING:
**Winner** Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker (Summit Entertainment)
James Cameron - Avatar (20th Century Fox)
Jason Reitman - Up in the Air (Paramount)
Lee Daniels - Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire (Lionsgate)
Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds (The Weinstein Company)

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE:
**Winner** Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart (Fox Searchlight)
George Clooney - Up in the Air (Paramount)
Colin Firth - A Single Man (The Weinstein Company)
Morgan Freeman - Invictus (Warner Bros.)
Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker (Summit Entertainment)

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE:
**Winner** Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side (Warner Bros.)
Helen Mirren - The Last Station (Sony Pictures Classics)
Carey Mulligan - An Education (Sony Pictures Classics)
Gabourey Sidibe - Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire (Lionsgate)
Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia (Columbia Pictures)

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:
**Winner** Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds (The Weinstein Company)
Matt Damon - Invictus (Warner Bros.)
Woody Harrelson - The Messenger (Oscilloscope)
Christopher Plummer - The Last Station (Sony Pictures Classics)
Stanley Tucci - The Lovely Bones (Paramount)

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:
**Winner** Mo'Nique - Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire (Lionsgate)
Penelope Cruz - Nine (The Weinstein Company)
Vera Farmiga - Up in the Air (Paramount)
Maggie Gyllenhaal - Crazy Heart (Fox Searchlight)
Anna Kendrick - Up in the Air (Paramount)

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
**Winner** The Hurt Locker (Summit Entertainment), Written by Mark Boal
Inglourious Basterds (The Weinstein Company), Written by Quentin Tarantino
The Messenger (Oscilloscope), Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman
A Serious Man (Focus Features), Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
Up (Disney•Pixar), Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM:
**Winner** Up (Disney•Pixar), Pete Docter
Coraline (Focus Features), Henry Selick
Fantastic Mr. Fox (Fox Searchlight), Wes Anderson
The Princess and the Frog (Walt Disney), John Musker and Ron Clements
The Secret of Kells (GDKIDS), Tomm Moore

ART DIRECTION:
**Winner** Avatar (20th Century Fox), Art Direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg, Set Decoration: Kim Sinclair
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (Sony Pictures Classics), Art Direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro, Set Decoration: Caroline Smith
Nine (The Weinstein Company), Art Direction: John Myhre, Set Decoration: Gordon Sim
Sherlock Holmes (Warner Bros.), Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood, Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
The Young Victoria (Apparition), Art Direction: Patrice Vermette, Set Decoration: Maggie Gray

CINEMATOGRAPHY:
**Winner** Avatar (20th Century Fox), Mauro Fiore
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Warner Bros.), Bruno Delbonnel
The Hurt Locker (Summit Entertainment), Barry Ackroyd
Inglourious Basterds (The Weinstein Company), Robert Richardson
The White Ribbon (Sony Pictures Classics), Christian Berger


VISUAL EFFECTS:
**Winner** Avatar (20th Century Fox), Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones
District 9 (TriStar), Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken
Star Trek (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment), Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton

More Movie News coming your way....