Box Office Weekend: Sherlock Holmes 2 tops its weekend debut with $40M!

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows starring Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Kelly Reilly, Noomi Rapace, Rachel McAdams, Jared Harris, and Stephen Fry lead the weekend on top with $40 million from 3,703 locations.    

According to Box Office Mojo, Sherlock Holmes 2 was down from its predecessor, the original Sherlock Holmes, which made $62.3 million over Christmas weekend in 2009. Distributor Warner Bros. Pictures is reporting that the audience was 59 percent male and 50 percent under the age of 35, and that it received an "A-" CinemaScore.    

Disappointing Debuts From 'Sherlock,' 'Alvin' Sequels
Weekend Report: Box office was down again thanks to middling performances from Sherlock Holmes and Alvin and the Chipmunks. One bright spot, though, was a strong IMAX opening from the latest Mission: Impossible... FULL STORY
   
'Sherlock Holmes 2' Vs. 'Sherlock Holmes'
3-Day Total: $40,020,000 < 3-Day Total: $62,304,277 

Nevertheless, a #1 is still a #1 whether it strongly opened box-office wise or just opened soft on its debut weekend (compared to The Three Musketeers, which unfortunately, did very poorly and only debuted at # 4 on its opening weekend with $8.7 M in 3,017 theaters, Sherlock Holmes 2 still did very well and managed to be #1 for its opening weekend!)...

Here's this weekend's Top 10 (via Collider)

	Title	Weekend	Total
1	Sherlock Holmes 2	$40,020,000	$40
2	Alvin & the Chipmunks 3	$23,500,000	$23.5
3	Mission: Impossible 4	$13,000,000	$13
4	New Year’s Eve	$7,420,000	$24.8
5	The Sitter	$4,400,000	$17.7
6	Breaking Dawn Part 1	$4,300,000	$266.4
7	Young Adult	$3,650,000	$4
8	Hugo	$3,625,000	$39
9	Arthur Christmas	$3,600,000	$38.5
10	The Muppets	$3,454,000	$70.9