LOS ANGELES, Jan 30 — Avatar: The Way of Water continued to dominate the box-office charts, taking in an estimated US$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 US$237 million in ticket sales in China — helped boost The Way of Water to fourth place globally all-time at US$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 US$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 US$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 US$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 US$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 (US$5.7 million)

Plane (US$3.9 million)

Infinity Pool (US$2.7 million)

Left Behind: Rise of the Antichrist (US$2.3 million)

The Wandering Earth 2 (US$1.4 million)

— AFP