Thanks to astronomic word-of-mouth, inflated 3-D ticket prices, andconsecutive holiday weekends that began on a Friday, "Avatar" continuedits seemingly unstoppable climb to the Hallelujah Mountains of U.S. andglobal box office.

According to estimates from Hollywood.com Box Office, James Cameron'ssci-fi opus grossed $68.3 million over New Years weekend, a tiny 10percent drop from Christmas weekend for a $352.1 million domestic total-- easily the biggest third weekend in the U.S. ever (2002's"Spider-Man" had held the record with $45 million).

Much more impressively, in just 17 days, "Avatar" has surpassed $1billion in the global box office. To put that in perspective, it took"The Dark Knight" pretty much its entire theatrical run just to make itto that milestone. (Another landmark: $66.4 million of "Avatar's"worldwide total is from IMAX theaters, a record for the mega-screenformat.)

"Avatar" wasn't the only film to ring in the new year with seriousbox-office bounty, either. "Sherlock Holmes" sleuthed out an elementary$38.4 million for second place, a 41 percent drop for $140 milliontotal.

Hot on its heels, "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" chirped to$36.6 million, dropping just 25 percent for $157 million total andthird place. (So what will the inevitable third film be called? TheSecond Squeakquel? The Threakquel?)

"It's Complicated" fell a bite-sized 15 percent, cooking up $18.7 million for fourth place and $59.1 million total.

And in fifth place, "The Blind Side" actually improved upon its totallast week, rising 8 percent for $12.7 million and $209.1 million total.(As EW noted yesterday, this means star Sandra Bullock is the onlyactress ever to have a film marketed on her star power alone pass $200million in U.S. box office.)

In fact, with no major debuts to steal away fresh audiences, it wassimply a fabulous weekend to be in movie theaters, period. "Up in theAir" pitched down an imperceptible 3 percent with $11.3 million and $45million total.

"The Princess and the Frog" hopped up 11 percent with $10 million and$86 million total. Even certified turkey "Did You Hear About theMorgans?" was up 4 percent, bringing in $5.2 million for a (stillwoeful) $25.6 million total.

Overall, the top ten box office was up 70 percent from last year, when"Marley and Me" was barking its way into filmgoers' hearts.

-CNN