Friends, Na 'vi, countrymen, lend me your pointed blue ears! After seven weeks of pure dominance, the mighty Avatar has finally been knocked off its perch. (Down all the way to SECOND place!) However, with a worldwide gross of $2.2 BILLION dollars, the title of the (unadjusted) highest-grossing film of ALL TIME, it's safe to say it's still doing a bit better than "okay."

So, who was this badass bounty hunter that finally obtained the pelt of this mighty beast? Was it Iron Man 2 or the new Harry Potter, after having hit theaters early for some reason? Nope. It was some date movie called Dear John with Duke and Mamma Mia! (If you ask me, the film could have used some Gung-Ho and Quick-Kick.)  It seems that Dear John's $32.4 million defeated the once indestructable Avatar's $23.6 million.

Let's put this into historical terms. Around this time in 1983, Michael Jackson's legendary single Billie Jean happened to dominate the Billboard charts (for as it so happens, also seven weeks.) It was everywhere and ruled the freaking planet, probably more so than Avatar rules today. Even a little pre-school rugrat like myself had the Thriller cassette and wore it out on my little hand-me-down tape player. But its dominance, like everything else in this world was finite and it had to step down from the mountaintop eventually to make room for someone else, no matter WHO it was. In this case, it was a little ear worm from Dexy's Midnight Runners called Come On Eileen. It was the infectious single that inspired the "celtic hobos shirtless in overalls" look and a plethora of porn titles. While some might phrase it that Come On Eileen had "beaten" or "toppled" Billie Jean, frankly, it was a case of being the lucky one-hit-wonder that would get to carry the symbolic accolade.

So, enjoy your victory, Dear John. Sure, I initially thought you were a reboot of the late-80's Judd Hirsch sitcom of the same name about a support group for divorcee's. (Kirk totally stole the show, btw.) However, you do have something for which to be proud. You were the warrior who lucked into achieving the deathblow after many greater warriors had already fallen, leaving the beast weakened and mortally wounded.

Source: Box Office Mojo