'Avatar: Fire and Ash' is US director James Cameron's fourth film to pass the $1 billion mark globally

'Avatar: Fire and Ash' is US director James Cameron's fourth film to pass the $1 billion mark globally

"Avatar: Fire and Ash" kept the North American box office churning, claiming the top spot for a fourth week running with $21.3 million in ticket sales, industry estimates showed Sunday.

The third installment in director James Cameron's blockbuster fantasy series has now earned a massive $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 $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 $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 $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 $10.1 million. Its global total now stands at $1.65 billion.

Lionsgate's disaster sequel "Greenland 2: Migration" starring Gerard Butler came in fifth place at $8.5 million.

Rounding out the top 10 are:

"Marty Supreme" ($7.6 million)

"Anaconda" ($5.1 million)

"The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants" ($3.8 million)

"David" ($3.1 million)

"Song Sung Blue" ($3 million)

bur-sst/md

Originally published on doc.afp.com, part of the BLOX Digital Content Exchange.

(0) comments

Welcome to the discussion.

Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.