'Pathaan' becomes fifth-highest grossing film with $5.9 million

Avatar: The Way of Water continued to dominate the box-office charts, taking in an estimated $15.7 million this weekend in North American theatres to make it the fourth-leading global grosser of all time

The Disney/20th Century 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 theatres around the world -- including $237 million in ticket sales in China -- helped boost "The Way of Water" to fourth place globally for all-time at $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 $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 $6.8 million. Tom Hanks plays the title curmudgeon in the adaptation of the Swedish novel A Man Called Ove.

Scary-doll thriller M3GAN from Universal and Blumhouse Productions took in $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 $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 ($5.7 million)

Plane ($3.9 million)

Infinity Pool ($2.7 million)

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

The Wandering Earth 2 ($1.4 million)