Friday Box Office: Denzel Opens Book

After the fizzled release of The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3, Denzel Washington's got reason to celebrate: His The Book of Eli opened to $11.7 million, suggesting this could be one of his biggest first weekends ever (still, the tenaciously holding Avatar could climb back on top by the end of the four-day weekend). In other news, The Lovely Bones opened in third, which is not bad, considering the film's seriously tempered expectations as of late. Full results after the jump:

THE BOOK OF ELI: $11,700,000 (new)

AVATAR: $10,500,000 ($461,000,000)

THE LOVELY BONES: $5,700,000 ($6,000,000)

SHERLOCK HOLMES: $2,900,000 ($173,000,000)

ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: THE SQUEAKQUEL: $2,600,000 ($183,500,000)

IT'S COMPLICATED: $2,400,000 ($82,900,000)

THE SPY NEXT DOOR: $2,300,000 (new)

LEAP YEAR: $1,900,000 ($13,500,000)

THE BLIND SIDE: $1,600,000 ($222,800,000)

UP IN THE AIR: $1,500,000 ($58,900,000)