Travel conditions were terrible. Many people couldn't afford good presents. So Americans celebrated Christmas by going to the movies like never before. If estimates hold, box office grosses for the three-day holiday weekend were an astonishing $278 million in the U.S. and Canada, according to the Web site Hollywood.com, which said the previous record was $260.8 million, when 'The Dark Knight,' premiered on a July weekend last year. This year's grosses also beat the 2008 Christmas weekend -- the previous holiday best -- by a whopping $77 million-plus. Even better news, for the health of the theatrical film business in general, is that this weekend's impressive sales figures were spread out among a variety of pictures. ('Dark Knight' hauled in $158.4 million on its opening weekend, well more than half of the frame's aggregate receipts). This Christmas weekend, 'Avatar' led the pack with an astounding $75 million gross, down less than three percent from last weekend's debut. But new entry 'Sherlock Holmes' wasn't far behind, with a debut tally of more than $65 million. Third place 'Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel,' which opened last Wednesday, took in $50.2 million from Friday through Sunday. Another new film, the adult Meryl Streep comedy 'It's Complicated,' debuted at $22.1 million for a fourth-place finish. 'There's real depth here; it's not like (the numbers) drop off precipitously after the number one film,' noted Hollywood.com's box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian. 'The audience expanded to accommodate all of these films that they wanted to see. I think most studios had something to be happy about, because they usually cannibalize each other. 'It's almost like people have this moviegoing fever right now,' he added. 'It's really amazing. I've never quite seen anything like it.' More good news: There's a whole other week's worth of heavy holiday moviegoing between now and Jan. 3. And even without the New Year's weekend factored in, Dergarabedian predicts that overall domestic box office will hit $10.5 billion by the time the last, dateless nerd buys his 10th 'Avatar' ticket on the night of Dec. 31. The 11-figure mark has already been passed for the first time, ever. The Web site boxofficemojo.com places 2007 as the top movie year prior to this one with $9.7 billion (Hollywood.com's figures are a little higher, but the placement result is the same). But will this upward trend continue into the new decade? That $10.5 billion looks like a pretty formidable number to beat. 'A psychological barrier has definitely been breached,' Dergarabedian said. 'It is going to be interesting to see how the industry moves ahead. But we're certainly leaving this decade with a bang.' 