The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — The romantic drama "Dear John" has knocked the sci-fi blockbuster "Avatar" off its No. 1 box-office perch.

"Dear John" debuted with $30.5 million, nudging "Avatar" to second-place with $22.9 million.

"Avatar," which had been No. 1 for seven weekends, raised its revenue records to $639.3 million domestically and $2.2 billion worldwide.

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Hollywood.com are:

1. "Dear John," Sony Screen Gems, $30,468,614, 2,969 locations, $10,262 average, $30,468,614, one week.

2. "Avatar," Fox, $22,850,881, 3,000 locations, $7,617 average, $629,344,204, eight weeks.

3. "From Paris With Love," Lionsgate, $8,158,860, 2,722 locations, $2,997 average, $8,158,860, one week.

4. "Edge of Darkness," Warner Bros., $6,855,371, 3,066 locations, $2,236 average, $28,947,851, two weeks.

5. "The Tooth Fairy," Fox, $6,629,595, 3,218 locations, $2,060 average, $34,462,568, three weeks.

6. "When in Rome," Disney, $5,549,129, 2,456 locations, $2,259 average, $20,944,734, two weeks.

7. "The Book of Eli," Warner Bros., $4,717,335, 2,820 locations, $1,673 average, $82,045,140, four weeks.

8. "Crazy Heart," Fox Searchlight , $3,567,671, 819 locations, $4,356 average, $11,105,401, eight weeks.

9. "Legion," Sony Screen Gems, $3,453,651, 2,339 locations, $1,477 average, $34,731,934, three weeks.

10. "Sherlock Holmes," Warner Bros., $2,535,174, 1,805 locations, $1,405 average, $201,484,470, seven weeks.

11. "The Blind Side," Warner Bros., $2,503,224, 1,740 locations, $1,439 average, $241,529,593, 12 weeks.

12. "Up in the Air," Paramount, $2,283,113, 1,547 locations, $1,476 average, $76,614,306, 10 weeks.

13. "The Lovely Bones," Paramount, $2,262,399, 2,330 locations, $971 average, $41,485,830, nine weeks.

14. "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel," Fox, $2,125,922, 1,965 locations, $1,082 average, $212,156,137, seven weeks.

15. "It's Complicated," Universal, $2,080,395, 1,671 locations, $1,245 average, $107,534,385, seven weeks.

16. "The Spy Next Door," Lionsgate, $918,846, 1,007 locations, $912 average, $22,858,012, four weeks.

17. "An Education," Sony Pictures Classics, $763,234, 761 locations, $1,003 average, $9,622,621, 18 weeks.

18. "A Single Man," Weinstein Co., $627,124, 353 locations, $1,777 average, $6,178,651, nine weeks.

19. "Extraordinary Measures," CBS Films, $521,805, 1,153 locations, $453 average, $11,854,694, three weeks.

20. "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' By Sapphire," Lionsgate, $474,156, 669 locations, $709 average, $46,057,209, 14 weeks.

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On the Net:

http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

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Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue Pictures is owned by Relativity Media LLC; Overture Films is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp.

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February 08, 2010 05:25 PM EST

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