At the Derby

Now with lo-cal Add On.

The Nikkster provides early numbers.

1. Avatar (Fox) Week 6 [3,141 Theaters] Friday $9.1M (-12%) Est Wkd $35M, Est Cume $550M

2. Legion (Sony) NEW [2,476 Theaters] Friday $6.7M, Est Wkd $18M

3. Book of Eli (Warner Bros) Week 2 [3,111 Theaters] Friday $5.0M (-57), Est Wkd $15M, Est Cume $60M.

4. The Tooth Fairy (Fox) NEW [3,344 Theaters] Friday $3.8M, Est Wkd $14M

5. Lovely Bones (Paramount) Week 7 [2,571 Theaters] Friday $2.8M, Est Wkd $9M, Est Cume $31.8M

6. Extraordinary Measures (CBS Films) NEW [2,549 Theaters] Friday $2.1M, Est Wkd $7M

7. Sherlock Holmes (Warner Bros) Week 5 [2,670 Theaters] Friday $1.9M, Est Wkd $6.5M, Est Cume $190.7M

8. It's Complicated (Universal) Week 5 [2,301 Theaters] Friday $1.7M, Est Wkd $6M, Est Cume $98.4M

9. Alvin & The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (Fox) Week 5 [2,973 Theaters] Friday $1.4M, Est Wkd $6.5M, Est Cume $204M

10. The Blind Side (Warner Bros) Week 10 [1,932 Theaters] Friday $1.2M, Est Wkd $4M, Est Cume $233.5M

If projections hold, Alvin and the Chipmunks scampers over the $200 million marker, and Avatar keeps on bulldozing along. (Having now seen it, I see why it's collected the money it has: solid, workmanlike script -- even with some cliched dialogue and stereotypical characters -- and spectacular visuals in a spectacular setting. I was amazed.)

Add On: At the wire, Avatar goes on shattering records ( dropping a scant 15.9%, collecting $36 million, and now owning $552.8 million domestic .... and a hell of a lot more overseas. )

Alvin and the Chipmunks now has $204.2 million in its fuzzy cheeks, while the long-running Sandra Bullock movie The Blind Side has dropped out of the Top Ten after a ten-week run with $234 million in its backpack. (This is about a 8-1 return over published production costs. Fox allowed this one to slip away, but Avatar helps lessen the pain, I'm sure.)