Avatar: Fire And Ash kept the North American box office churning, claiming the top spot for a fourth week running with US$21.3 million (S$27.4 million) in ticket sales, industry estimates showed Sunday (Jan 11).
The third installment in director James Cameron’s blockbuster fantasy series has now earned a massive US$1.23 billion worldwide, according to Exhibitor Relations.
Fire And Ash stars Zoe Saldana as Na’vi warrior Neytiri and Sam Worthington as ex-Marine Jake Sully, who must battle a new foe threatening their family’s life on the planet Pandora.
It is the fourth Cameron film to pass the US$1 billion mark, with the first two Avatar films and Titanic.
Debuting in second place in the United States and Canada was Primate, a horror film about a violent pet chimpanzee, with US$11.3 million.
“This is a good opening for an original horror film,” said David A Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research.
“Horror stories that feature an evil creature generally perform better at the box office than horror stories about evil humans.”
Not far behind in third place at US$11.2 million was The Housemaid, an adaptation of Freida McFadden’s best-selling novel about a young woman who is hired by a wealthy couple with dark secrets.
Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried star in the Lionsgate release.
Disney’s feel-good animated film Zootopia 2 – the other juggernaut of the holiday box office – dropped to fourth place at US$10.1 million. Its global total now stands at US$1.65 billion.
Lionsgate’s disaster sequel Greenland 2: Migration starring Gerard Butler came in fifth place at US$8.5 million.