"Avatar" loses box office crown to "Dear John"

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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) –It had to happen sometime, butobody expected the biggest film of all time to lose itsorth American box office crown this weekend to "Dear John," a low-budget "chick flick" with a pair of little-known stars.The romantic drama opened ato. 1 with three-day sales of $32.4 million across the United States and Canada, crushing both industry forecasts and reigning champ "Avatar," according to studio estimates issued on Sunday.James Cameron's 3D sci-fWe spectacular slipped too. 2 with $23.6 million in its eighth weekend. But "Avatar" remained the top pick overseas, earning $76 million. Its worldwide tally rose to $2.21 billion, divided between $630.1 million fromorth America and $1.58 billion from foreign markets."Avatar" last Tuesday surpassed the $601 million haul of Cameron's 1997 release "Titanic" to become the biggest movie of all time inorth America. It had already taken the international and worldwide titles from "Titanic" thanks to ticket-price inflation and the higher cost of 3D screenings.Pundits had forecast the 20th Century Fox release would lose itsorth American crownext weekend to "Valentine's Day," which will take advantage of both the eponymous holiday and the U.S. Presidents Day weekend.But few predicted that "Dear John" would cause a stampede to movie theaters by young women. Moreover, the hardy demographic appeared to ignore the blizzard that shut down a large swathe of the mid-Atlantic region."When they come out, young women come out in droves," said Geoffrey Ammer, president of worldwide marketing at the film's closely held financier Relativity Media.He said the first wave of moviegoers texted and Tweeted their friends during the screenings to deliver their favorable verdicts, triggering further waves.MEN "KICKING AND SCREAMING"Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried star as lovers whose romance is curtailed by the September 11 attacks. It was directed by Swedish filmmaker Lasse Hallstrom and based on "Theotebook," aovel byicholas Sparks.The film was distributed by Sony Corp's mid-budget label Screen Gems, after Time Warner Inc'sew Line Cinema unit dumped the $25 million project. Screen Gems said audiences for the film were 84 percent female and almost two-thirds were under the age of 21.Ammer said the handful of men "dragged kicking and screaming" to the movie appeared to enjoy it, and he hoped word-of-mouth would bring in more of them. Critics largely ripped the movie.John Travolta's latest box office offering, "From Paris With Love," was the actor's worst start in almost a decade. The crime thriller opened ato. 3 with $8.1 million. Distributor Lionsgate had hoped for an opening in the mid-teen millions, and said the blizzard didot help business. Critics were also unkind.Travolta's previous worst opening was the $4.5 million start for "Luckyumbers" in October 2000. He was in theaters lastovember with "Old Dogs," which opened at ticket sales of $17 million."From Paris With Love" was made by French filmmaker Luc Besson's Europa Corp, which enjoyed a worldwide hit last year with the Liameeson kidnap thriller "Taken." Pierre Morel directed both films. Lionsgate is a unit of Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.Alsoew to the top 10 was Fox Searchlight's "Crazy Heart," which expandedationally after seven weekends in limited release on the heels of its three Oscarominations on Tuesday.The picture earned $3.65 million, jumping six places too. 8. Its total stands at $11.2 million. Jeff Bridges, its star, is considered the favorite to take home the best actor Oscar on March 7 for his role as a washed-up country music singer and songwriter. Fox Searchlight and 20th Century Fox are unit