Director James Cameron's 3D sci-fi epic Avatar has showed its deep and lasting potential as the box office champion in North America that has lasted for seven weeks, taking in US$30 million in projected ticket sales this weekend, the North America box office authorities said Sunday.

The blockbuster's ticket sales in Canada and the United States has somewhat declined a minuscule 14 percent from last week, however, it still managed to fetch an estimated combination of US$594. 4 million. It is expected to become the first movie ever to surmount the US$601 million mark.

Trailing behind the Cameron phenomenon is Mel Gibson's comeback vehicle thriller Edge of Darkness from Warner Bros., debuted in the No. 2 slot with US$17.1 million in ticket sales. Marking the controversial star's return to the big screen after a 17-year hiatus, the debut of Edge of Darkness is the lowest for any film starring Gibson since 1995's Braveheart, despite substantial ticket-price increases over the last 15 years. The majority of the viewers who have watched the film were older than 35, and 70 percent of them said Gibson was the primary appeal, according to exit polls. However, the sales receipts have showed that the veteran star has lost some traction.

At No. 3 is this week's another debut, When In Rome, a romantic comedy from Walt Disney Studios, brought in mediocre US$12.1 million in projected ticket sales receipts. Many critics criticized the film for its lacking real stock and being " predictably charmless and forgettable."

Family comedy The Tooth Fairy from the 20th Century Fox, debuted last week, held on to its No. 4 slot from the last week, garnering US$10 million with a 29-percent drop.

The Book of Eli, from Warner Bros. and starring Denzel Washington, slipped two slots to No. 5, fetching US$8.8 million this weekend with a combined gross of US$74.4 million over three weeks.

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