The FINANCIAL -- James Cameron's "Avatar" is close to sink "Titanic" at the box office. "Avatar" has surpassed "Titanic" in international sales -- $1.29 billion to $1.24 billion mark -- and is closing in on its domestic total.

"We're witnessing box office history," Paul Dergarabedian, box office analyst for Hollywood.com, told the Associated Press. "We're watching all of these big records fall, and there doesn't seem to be an end in sight. 'Avatar' is dominating at a time where it has no big summer blockbusters to compete with it. It's perfectly poised to keep breaking all these records."

No. 1 for the sixth straight weekend with $36 million, the 20th Century Fox sci-fi spectacle lifted its domestic total to $552.8 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. "Avatar" raised its worldwide total to $1.841 billion, Mercury News reports. That's $2 million shy of first place behind Cameron's last movie, the 1997 shipwreck epic "Titanic," at $1.843 billion. "It defies all superlatives," said Chris Aronson, head of distribution for Fox.

The latest No. 1 weekend tally was $107 million grossed from 11,800 screens in 111 markets. It was the sixth consecutive weekend that "Avatar" grossed more than $100 million on the foreign circuit, according to Hollywood Reporter.

Among the key territories on the weekend were: France (cume $123.3 million), Germany ($95.7 million), the U.K. ($92.9 million), South Korea ($79.5 million), Japan ($77.7 million), Australia ($77.1 million) and Spain ($76 million). "Avatar" is now the biggest grossing film of all time in China, Spain, Russia, Hong Kong and Chile, the same source reports. It is the biggest Hollywood film ever to play in India.

In North America, "Avatar" may have to wait up to two weeks to sink the $601 million total of "Titanic," Fox said, according to Reuters. Moviegoers in the United States and Canada have chipped in $552.8 million, enough to replace 2008's "The Dark Knight" ($533 million) as the second-biggest movie of all time.

Data are not adjusted for inflation, and "Avatar" ticket sales got an additional boost from premium pricing for 3-D screenings. Imax Corp (IMAX.O) said its big-screen engagements have sold a record $134 million worth of tickets worldwide, the same source reports. The biggest movie of all time in North America -- adjusted for inflation -- is 1939's "Gone with the Wind," with sales of almost $1.5 billion, according to tracking firm Box Office Mojo. "Avatar" ranks No. 26 by that measure.

The news makes James Cameron the director of the top two global hits ever. It also marks the triumph of an improbable success that producers spent over $230 million to underwrite, Daily Finance informs. Some estimates put that number even higher - closer to $500 million. Either way, the movie will be extraordinarily profitable.

In North America, "Avatar" was trailed by the new supernatural action thriller "Legion" at No. 2 with $18.2 million, while the Denzel Washington drama "The Book of Eli" slipped to No. 3 with $17 million in its second weekend, Reuters reports. "Legion," released by Sony Corp's (6758.T) (SNE.N) Screen Gems budget label, cost about $25 million to make, and played primarily to men, the studio said. Paul Bettany, Lucas Black and Tyrese Gibson star in the tale of an of-the-way diner that becomes the unlikely battleground for the survival of the human race.

"Eli," a similarly themed apocalyptic drama released by Time Warner Inc's (TWX.N) Warner Bros. Pictures on behalf of independent producer Alcon Entertainment, has earned $62 million after 10 days, according to the same source. Two other films opened in the top-10: Fox's Dwayne Johnson family film "The Tooth Fairy" at No. 4 with a promising $14.5 million.

"The Lovely Bones" came in at #5 with $8.8 million, and the last wide release within the top 10 was "Extraordinary Measures", starring Harrison Ford and Brendan Fraser, at #7 with $7 million, BallerStatus reports.
 
This weekend's top 10 is as follows:

1 - "Avatar," $36 million.
2 - "Legion," $18.2 million.
3 - "The Book of Eli," $17 million.
4 - "Tooth Fairy," $14.5 million.
5 - "The Lovely Bones," $8.8 million.
6 - "Sherlock Holmes," $7.1 million.
7 - "Extraordinary Measures," $7 million.
8 - "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel," $6.5 million.
9 - "It's Complicated," $6.2 million.
10 - "The Spy Next Door," $4.8 million.

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