Had Grindhouse earned $2 million less over the weekend, it would have equaled the $9.5 million laid out for Avril Lavigne's new Bel-Air digs. The 22-year-old recording artiste, whose new CD, The Best Damn Thing, is due in stores next week, and her husband, Sum 41 frontman Deryck Whibley, bought themselves a humble 12,000- square-foot abode with eight bedrooms and 101/2 bathrooms (betcha that extra half was the big selling point) in a tony neighbourhood that has been home to Bogey and Bacall, Sonny and Cher, Hugh Hefner, Clint Eastwood and Ronald Reagan.
Lavigne's trek from Belleville (Ontario) to Bel-Air has been impressive. Last year she placed seventh in Canadian Business magazine's ranking of the most powerful Canadians in Hollywood.
