LOS ANGELES- A pack of hit films led by science fiction epic "Avatar" sent North American box office figures surging to the highest-grossing weekend in movie history, an industry tracker said Monday.

The Christmas holiday weekend saw movie-goers flock to theaters in droves, sending earnings soaring to nearly 270 million dollars, an all-time record, California-based Exhibitor Relations revealed.

The figure smashed the previous best weekend mark of 260.3 million dollars set in July 2008, when Batman blockbuster "The Dark Knight" opened to huge audiences in Canada and the United States.

But instead of one film accounting for the lion's share of the take, this year's record weekend was driven by a crop of movies that raked in big numbers.

The effects-laden, 3-D epic "Avatar" -- director James Cameron's first film since the 1997 Oscar-winner "Titanic" -- earned 75.6 million dollars from Friday to Sunday.

The film, which cost between 300 and 500 million dollars to produce, is also the most expensive movie ever made.

"Avatar" was followed by a slew of new releases, including Guy Ritchie's "Sherlock Holmes," starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, which earned 62.4 million dollars. "Avatar" and "Sherlock Holmes" accounted for 53 percent of the weekend box office.

Opening in third place was the comedy "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" -- a movie the Washington Post said was a minor Christmas miracle because it "isn't entirely awful."

The "Squeakquel" pulled in takings of 48.9 million dollars.

"It's Complicated," a love triangle comedy starring Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin, opened in fourth place with 22.1 million dollars in takings.

In fifth place with 11.5 million dollars was "Up in the Air," starring George Clooney in the acclaimed story of a corporate downsizer who questions his role in life.

Sixth was "The Blind Side," a drama about a white couple who give an illiterate black teen a home and a new lease on life. The film scored 11.3 million dollars in its sixth week of release.

Disney's animated movie "The Princess and the Frog," the first featuring an African-American princess, dropped to seventh place with 9.0 million dollars.

Next was "Nine," starring Daniel Day-Lewis as a film director in mid-life crisis juggling a wife (Marion Cotillard), mistress (Penelope Cruz) and film star muse (Nicole Kidman). The film adaptation of a Broadway musical based on the Federico Fellini film "8 1/2" made 5.5 million dollars.

Ninth place went to "Did You Hear About the Morgans?" a romantic comedy in which Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker play an estranged couple who witness a mob hit and are placed in a witness protection program. It grossed 5.0 million dollars in its second week.

Rounding out the top ten with 4.4 million dollars was "Invictus," directed by Clint Eastwood and starring veteran actor Morgan Freeman, about how South African president Nelson Mandela united the country around the 1995 Rugby World Cup.

At 10.3 billion dollars, box office takings for the year, so far, are also the highest on record. Expected to finish at 10.5 billion, 2009 will top 2008, which raked in 9.6 billion, the industry trackers said.