Reuters file photo
Los Angeles: 'Avatar: The Way of Water' continued to dominate the box-office charts, taking in an estimated $15.7 million this weekend in North American theaters to make it the fourth-leading global grosser of all time.
The Disney/20thCentury sci-fi film, directed by James Cameron, "has been #1 for 7 straight weeks... a feat that hasn't been accomplished" since Cameron issued the original "Avatar" in 2009, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations said on Twitter.
Hefty results from theaters around the world -- including $237 million in ticket sales in China -- helped boost 'The Way of Water' to fourth place globally all-time at $2.117 billion, unadjusted for inflation.
That means Cameron now has his name on three of the four top grossers ever: the original 'Avatar', 'Titanic' and 'The Way of Water' ('Avengers: Endgame' from Disney and Marvel sneaks in at second).
In second place for the North American weekend was Universal's family-friendly 'Puss in Boots: The Last Wish', at $10.6 million for the Friday-through-Sunday period.
In third, up two spots from last weekend, was Sony's feel-good 'A Man Called Otto' at $6.8 million. Tom Hanks plays the title curmudgeon in the adaptation of Swedish novel 'A Man Called Ove'.
Scary-doll thriller 'M3GAN' from Universal and Blumhouse Productions took in $6.4 million to place fourth. It has an android doll, created as a companion to a young orphan, turning steadily creepier.
And Yash Raj Films' new action thriller 'Pathaan' placed fifth at $5.9 million, an impressive North American total for a Hindi-language film. It stars Shah Rukh Khan, known as the 'King of Bollywood', in a story about spies, rogue agents and a deadly lab-generated virus.
Rounding out the top 10 were:
'Missing' ($5.7 million)
'Plane' ($3.9 million)
'Infinity Pool' ($2.7 million)
'Left Behind: Rise of the Antichrist' ($2.3 million)
'The Wandering Earth 2' ($1.4 million)
