How big could Avatar‘s debut really been? Thanks to a blizzard, we may never know. James Cameron’s first feature in 12 years pulled in approximately $77 million this weekend, enough to win first place but slightly lower than expectations. The movie, which was produced for around $310 million, never reached its full potential due to weather conditions on the East Coast.

As it was, the movie came in behind 2007’s I Am Legend for the best December opener ever. (The Will Smith film debuted to $77.2 million.) The 3D entry also ranked sixth - behind Star Trek, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and New Moon - for domestic debuts this year.

1. Avatar, 20th Century Fox, $77,025,481 (avg. $22,313)
2. The Princess and the Frog, Disney, $12,185,949 (avg. $3507)
3. The Blind Side, Warner Bros., $10,021,280 (avg. $2941)
4. Did You Hear About the Morgans?, Sony, $6,616,571 (avg. $2434)
5. New Moon, Summit Entertainment, $4,407,598 (avg. $1452)
6. Invictus, Warner Bros., $4,203,171 (avg. $1978)
7. Disney’s A Christmas Carol, Disney, $3,443,464 (avg. $1664)
8. Up in the Air, Paramount, $3,210,132 (avg. $18,344)
9. Brothers, Lionsgate, $2,889,121 (avg. $1438)
10. Old Dogs, Disney, $2,340,575 (avg. $890)

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