Dear John—And they didn’t think we could do it. Take that, blue people! XOXO, Savannah

After an exhausting seven weeks at #1, Avatar found itself in entirely new territory: sitting back at #2. Although the film had broken nearly every record in the history books (and padded another $22.9 million to its domestic total), the 20th Century Fox feature ended its win streak nine weeks shy of E.T.‘s mark.

Taking the lead from James Cameron was the latest weeper from author Nicholas Sparks. Dear John - starring Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried - was the counterprogramming winner during Super Bowl weekend. The romantic drama earned an impressive $30.5 million and came narrowly close to besting the record set during the same sports frame in 2008. (That was when Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour generated $31.1 million.)

1. Dear John, Sony Screen Gems, $30,468,614 (avg. $10,262)
2. Avatar, 20th Century Fox, $22,850,881 (avg. $7617)
3. From Paris with Love, Lionsgate, $8,158,860 (avg. $2997)
4. Edge of Darkness, Warner Bros., $6,855,371 (avg. $3066)
5. Tooth Fairy, 20th Century Fox, $6,629,595 (avg. $3218)
6. When in Rome, Disney, $5,549,129 (avg. $2259)
7. The Book of Eli, Warner Bros., $4,717,335 (avg. $1673)
8. Crazy Heart, Fox Searchlight, $3,567,671 (avg. $4356)
9. Legion, Sony, $3,453,651 (avg. $1477)
10. Sherlock Holmes, Warner Bros., $2,535,174 (avg. $1405)

(You can review last week’s numbers here.)