"Avatar" piles on the UK box office millions

LONDON (Reuters Life!) - Director James Cameron's 3D blockbuster "Avatar" enjoyed another box office bonanza over the weekend to retain top spot as it edged toward total takings in Britain of 50 million pounds.

The story of a man sent to infiltrate an alien race, already closing in on Cameron's "Titanic" as the world's biggest-grossing film, took another 5.5 million pounds, according to Screen International on Tuesday.

Avatar failed to break the 10 million-pound mark on its debut in Britain and was overtaken as No. 1 after just one week.

But it has subsequently gained ground steadily and has so far taken 49.3 million pounds in its five-week British run.

Guy Ritchie's remake of "Sherlock Holmes" with Robert Downey Jr. as the great detective and Jude Law as Dr Watson, stayed in second spot, just above "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" which climbed back up a place to third.

"It's Complicated," with Meryl Streep as a restaurateur at the apex of a love triangle, was up one at fourth in its second week.

George Clooney as a corporate frequent flyer facing a travel clampdown came in at five in "Up in the Air" while another newcomer, "The Book of Eli", made its debut at six with Denzel Washington as a man on a mission in post-apocalyptic America.

Vampire movie "Daybreakers," with Ethan Hawke and Willem Dafoe, slipped four places to seventh.

The film version of Cormac McCarthy's bleak novel, "The Road" was down two in eighth spot, with Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker in the story of a New York couple witnessing a murder, "Did You Hear about the Morgans?", down at nine from seven.

The girls of "St Trinian's 2: The Legend of Fritton's Gold" were down one at 10.