'Dear John' Usurps 'Avatar' at Box Office

In a major box office surprise, Nicholas Sparks' latest tearjerker 'Dear John' beats out 'Avatar' for the top slot.

Just like the Super Bowl commercials this year seemed to evoke a simpler time in America, so, too did the weekend box office. Gone from the top spot were the blue Na'vi of Pandora and the futuristic folk with their avatars. In their place were John (G.I. Joe's Channing Tatum) and Savannah (Mamma Mia's Amanda Seyfried), a soldier and a college student who meet while he is on leave and she is on college break in the latest Nicholas Sparks tearjerker Dear John.

The two fall in love, have a romantic encounter in a barn as rain falls around them (if it sounds straight out of another Sparks movie, The Notebook, you're right), and then must separate when he returns to duty and she returns to college. A torrid affair ensues through a series of letters — yes, letters. In one weekend, Americans have regressed from wanting to see 3D adventures on alien planets, to wanting to see two attractive, good-natured people write each other letters.

That lingering sense of nostalgia we spoke of in our Super Bowl commercial coverage is rearing its head again. Nicholas Sparks is not one to go without a plot twist, so I won't give this one away — although if you know what the original meaning of a "Dear John" letter was, chances are you can guess the twist in this film. Either way, the public has spoken, and they are clamoring for the days of love letters and college break/military leave romances. Dear John may not be Best Picture material, but there's something sweet about it's box office success this past weekend.

Photo courtesy of Muffet via Flickr