'Avatar' tops box office again; eyes 'Titanic' record

Science-fiction epic "Avatar" was poised to sink "Titanic" as the highest-grossing movie of all time after topping the North American box office for a sixth consecutive week, figures showed Monday.

Director James Cameron's groundbreaking 3-D film harvested another 34.9 million dollars at the weekend, raising its overall North American gross to 551.7 million and pushing its international earnings to almost 1.838 billion, box office tracker Exhibitor Relations said.

Cameron's 1997 Oscar-winning "Titanic" remains the highest-grossing film of all time with 1.843 billion dollars.

But that mark was likely to fall sometime on Monday, Exhibitor Relations analyst Jeff Bock told AFP.

"I would say it's almost certain to beat 'Titanic' today once the international numbers are taken into account," Bock said.

"Avatar" is closing in on "Titanic's" North America record of 600.8 million dollars. It is now in second place, having surpassed the 533.3 million dollar mark set by 2008 Batman sequel "The Dark Knight.

Post-apocalyptic thriller "Legion," starring Dennis Quaid, opened this weekend in second place with 17.5 million dollars.

Denzel Washington's "Book of Eli," an action movie also set in a post-apocalyptic world took in 15.7 million dollars for third place and 60.7 million for its two-week run.

Dwayne Johnson comedy "The Tooth Fairy" opened in fourth place with 14 million dollars.

"Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson's latest film, "The Lovely Bones", an adaptation of Alice Sebold's acclaimed 2002 novel about a murdered schoolgirl who from the afterlife helps her family catch her killer, made 8.4 million dollars for fifth place.

In sixth place was "Sherlock Holmes" with 6.6 million dollars. Director Guy Ritchie's high-octane take on the adventures of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's legendary London detective, played by Robert Downey Junior, has taken 191 million dollars in five weeks.

Seventh place went to family film "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" with another 6.4 million dollars, pushing its take to 204 million in five weeks.

In eighth spot was "Extraordinary Measures," starring Harrison Ford as a scientist helping Brendan Fraser find a cure for his childrens' rare genetic disease. It scored a disappointing debut with six million dollars.

Love triangle comedy "It's Complicated," starring Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin, dropped to ninth place, taking 5.8 million dollars.

Hong Kong film legend Jackie Chan weighed in at tenth place with his slapstick comedy "The Spy Next Door," which took 4.6 million dollars.

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