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Generating more than $832 million, last month was the highest-grossing March ever, surpassing the $795 million of the previous milestone, March 2007. Business was up ten percent over February and 29 percent over March 2009, thanks to the would-be event picture,, delivering massive returns unlikelast year. A first quarter gross record was also established: the haul for January, February and March came in at $2.65 billion, up nine percent over 2009 through the same point.Each weekend in March was led by a 3D-enhanced picture:for the first three andfor the last. The 3D ticket price premium over 2D onand others appears to have accounted for more than $70 million of the March total. Combined with the general rise in ticket prices, that means that March 2010 ranks ninth in terms of estimated attendance among the past few decades in which box office has been consistently tracked. March 2002 (whenplayed) is the modern champ with an estimated 132 million plus tickets sold, while March 2010's estimate was just under 100 million.March 2010 was all aboutand not much else. Never before has a single release dominated March so commandingly:'s $299.5 million tally made up 36 percent of the total March box office. The month's second highest-grossing title,, earned $57.9 million or less than a fifth of. The next biggest March dominator on record waswith its 27 percent share in 2004.Released on Mar. 26,only had six days of March play, yet it handily outdrew movies that opened earlier in the month, includingand. February holdoverwas third highest-grossing picture of March with $46.1 million, followed by($41.6 million),($39.5 million) and 2009 holdover($34.6 million).Aside fromand, the March slate had a paucity of appealing titles, leading to the top-heaviness. 13 pictures opened or expanded into nationwide release and less than half had any kind of traction. The disappointments included($33.3 million) and($13.2 million), two pictures saddled with historically problematic sub-genres as well as marketing that did not present them in the best light. As usual, no limited or specialty release broke out to pick up the slack, and there were three high profile ones that fell flat:andFor the quarter (Jan.-Mar.) as a whole, five pictures grossed over $100 million.remained the top draw, raking in $457.5 million (62 percent of its lifetime haul), followed by($121.6 million),($109.9 million) and 2009 holdover($106.4 million or more than half of its lifetime tally).