Avatar's success was almost as much due to the lack of any real competition over a slow three months. Its only real competitor was Sherlock Holmes, a movie with almost as much star and action wattage. The arrival of Valentine's Day helped topple Avatar, last weekend with Dear John, and this weekend with Valentine's Day. Wolfman also beating Avatar was almost a secondary factor.

Female audiences played a big success in the rise of Avatar, which is why Cameron made sure to pander to them from the start. Female audiences were the only reason that Titanic wasn't the disaster it deserved to be. Female audiences weren't the sole reason that Avatar didn't fail miserably, but they provided the edge that prevented it from being a novelty reserved for geeks. And with Dear John and Valentine's Day, those audiences proved to be a lot less interested in blue thundercats and more interested in romance.

It wasn't all good news though. Avatar hasn't gone away yet, but it's finally on the way out. The movie that defeated it may be forgettable, just as few people remember the Lost in Space movie, just that it unseated Titanic from the number 1 spot. And that's what Dear John accomplished and Valentine's Day completed.