Avatar: Fire and Ash marks fifth-straight week of box office dominance

Los Angeles, California - Avatar: Fire and Ash showed no signs of slowing down, topping the North American box office for the fifth consecutive week over the long holiday weekend, industry estimates showed Sunday.

Avatar: Fire and Ash stayed dominant with another $17.2 million at the North American box office.
Avatar: Fire and Ash stayed dominant with another $17.2 million at the North American box office.  © IMAGO / Landmark Media

The third installment in director James Cameron's blockbuster fantasy series took in another $17.2 million from Friday to Monday, when Americans mark Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

That put its US and Canadian haul at $367.4 million, and its worldwide total at more than $1.3 billion, according to Exhibitor Relations.

Fire and Ash stars Zoe Saldaña 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.

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It is the fourth Cameron film to pass the $1 billion mark, along with the first two Avatar films and Titanic.

Debuting in second place with a disappointing $15 million was 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, the fourth installment in the zombie horror series, which comes less than a year after the last film.

"Returning after 7 months is quick – it's too quick, and it's hurting the numbers," said analyst David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research.

Zootopia 2 and The Housemaid hold strong

Disney's feel-good animated film Zootopia 2 showed its staying power, moving up to third place at $12 million over the four-day weekend.

In fourth place at $10.2 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.

Marty Supreme, starring Oscars frontrunner Timothée Chalamet as a conniving 1950s table tennis player with big dreams, finished in fifth place at $6.7 million.

Cover photo: IMAGO / Landmark Media

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