LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – British director Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes set a Christmas Day sales record at  the box office in North America, taking a narrow lead over last  weekend’s champ, Avatar, according to early estimates  released yesterday.

Sherlock Holmes, in which Robert Downey Jr reinvents the  ascetic Victorian sleuth as a dashing superhero, earned $24.9  million during its first day of release on Friday, distributorWarner Bros. Pictures said.

The record for a Christmas Day opening was set last year  when Marley and Me launched with $14.4 million.

Avatar earned $23.5 million on Friday, taking the  eight-day total for director James Cameron’s costly 3-D  extravaganza to $160.8 million, said 20th Century Fox.

Fox also released Alvin and the Chipmunks: The  Squeakquel, which opened at No. 3 with $14.5 million. The  family-oriented sequel got an early start on the holiday by opening on Wednesday, and its total stands at $41.3 million.

Betty Thomas directed the follow-up to the 2007 live-action  animated hit that grossed more than $360 million worldwide.

Another new release, director Nancy Meyers’ It’s  Complicated, followed at No. 4 after earning $7.1 million  during its first day on Friday. The Universal Pictures comedy  stars Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin.

Up in the Air rose three places to No. 5 in its first  weekend of national release, with Friday sales of $3.7 million.  Director Jason Reitman’s meditation on love and loneliness in corporate America has earned $16.4 million since Paramount Pictures released it in 15 theaters on Dec. 4.