(New Line)

Valentine’s Day

The romantic comedy is on pace to take in $60 million for the Friday-Monday extended weekend, after scoring a $16.5 million debut Friday, and $18.4 million for Saturday. Percy Jackson & The Olympians and The Wolfman, the other two major releases, are estimated to hit $40 million and $34.8 million, respectively.

For the #4 spot, all-time box office leader Avatar will edge out Dear John, the romance that finally knocked it from its #1 perch last weekend.

The overall box office is trending ahead of last year’s Valentine’s Day/Presidents Weekend, which set the record at $220 million.

Gossip Cop will update later with final numbers on this HUGE movie weekend.

Follow @GossipCop on Twitter for updates!

(New Line)

The weekend is upon us… along with a varied slate of box office offerings.

Horror fans get a visit from The Wolfman, while fantasy and mythology buffs will have Percy Jackson & The Olympians.

Meanwhile, roughly four-fifths of Hollywood appears in Valentine’s Day (including Jessicas Alba and Biel, Taylors Swift and Lautner, Robertses Julia and Emma, Bradley Cooper, Ashton Kutcher, Jennifer Garner, Jamie Foxx, George Lopez, Queen Latifah, Topher Grace, Anne Hathaway, etc.). We suspect the film is about Valentine’s Day.

Of course, there are also some leftover movies fighting it out at the cineplex, including last week’s champ, Dear John, and a small indie called Avatar.

Gossip Cop wants to know what you plan to see!

Follow @GossipCop on Twitter for the best in accurate celebrity news!

(Relativity)

UPDATED SUNDAY

Avatar‘s astounding run at #1 is over.

After upsetting the James Cameron juggernaut on Friday, Dear John also posted better Saturday box office numbers, albeit by a narrower margin. The romance earned an estimated $12.4 million yesterday to edge the sci-fi epic’s estimated $11.3 million.

With a weekend total of $32.4 million, Dear John also beat Hannah Montana‘s record for a Super Bowl Weekend. That concert film earned $31.1 million in 2008.

At number two, “Avatar” snagged $23.6 million this weekend, raising its domestic total to $630.1 million. 

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ORIGINAL POST – 11:30AM Saturday -

The weekend is far from over, but early projections have produced a big surprise. The over performing love story Dear John is expected to end Avatar‘s reign atop the box office.

Starring Amanda Seyfried and Channing Tatum, Dear John shot to a huge $13 million Friday opening in North America, far ahead of Avatar, still very strong in its eighth week with a $6 million Friday take.

While numbers from today and tomorrow (Super Bowl Sunday) could obviously shake things up, estimates now place Dear John at roughly $30 million for the weekend, which would be enough to knock off the ridiculously successful Avatar.

Again, numbers won’t be final until tomorrow night. But Avatar‘s long stay atop the weekend box office MAY be over.

Follow @GossipCop on Twitter for updates…