AceShowbiz - "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, January 15, 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 (Jan 15 - 17) - $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.

Top Ten Movies at Box Office for January 15-17:

1. "Avatar" - $41.3 million
2. "The Book of Eli" - $31.6 million
3. "The Lovely Bones" - $17 million
4. "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" - $11.5 million
5. "Sherlock Holmes" - $9.8 million
6. "The Spy Next Door" - $9.7 million
7. "It's Complicated" - $7.6 million
8. "Leap Year" - $5.8 million
9. "The Blind Side" - $5.5 million
10. "Up in the Air" - $5.4 million