Avatar On Top for a Fifth Week in a Role

Avatar has become the first film since 1999's The Sixth Sense to spend five weeks at the top of the U.S. box office after fighting off competition from Denzel Washington's new action film The Book Of Eli.

James Cameron's sci-fi epic, which claimed six honors at the Critics Choice Movie Awards on Friday night, has now passed Star Wars to become the third biggest-grossing film in America. The movie is already the second most successful movie of all-time globally, behind Cameron's Titanic.

Avatar grossed another $41.3 million at the U.S. box office at the weekend - $10 million more than The Book of Eli, which opened in second place.

The Lovely Bones made its wide-release debut and comes in at three on the new countdown, while Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel and Sherlock Holmes round out the new top five.