"Avatar" ruled the US box office for a fourth weekend on, days after it soared up the worldwide rankings to become the second-biggest movie of all time.
James Cameron's 3-D sci-fi epic earned $48.5 million (€33.6m) across the United States and Canada during the three-day period beginning Friday, distributor 20th Century Fox said.
Its total rose to $429.0 million, making it the seventh-biggest movie of all time in North America.
The last movie to enjoy four consecutive weekends at No. 1 was the Batman movie, "The Dark Knight," in 2008.
International moviegoers had chipped in $761 million, taking the film's worldwide total to $1.14 billion.
"Avatar" passed the $1.12 billion tally of "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" to become the second-highest worldwide release ever, trailing only "Titanic" with worldwide sales of $1.84 billion in 1997-1998.
"Avatar" is the tale of a disabled ex-Marine sent from Earth to infiltrate a race of blue aliens and persuade them to let his employer mine their homeland for natural resources.
It was reportedly the most expensive film ever made, with a budget of at least $300 million.
