'The Last Jedi' tops Christmas box office in North America

A Stormtrooper poses at the Chinese premiere of "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" at the Shanghai Disney Resort on December 20, 2017. - AFP Photo

The eighth installment of the blockbuster space saga topped the charts in North America for a second week, according to box office tracker Exhibitor Relations, pulling in US$68.5 million to rack up total earnings of $365 million since it opened last weekend.

Its triumph echoed last year’s Christmas number one, Star Wars: Rogue One, which told the backstory to the original 1977 hit.

The movie has so far netted $745.4 million worldwide, according to industry analyst Paul Dergarabedian, although the record to beat remains 2009’s Avatar, which earned $2.7 billion.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the 2015 predecessor to the The Last Jedi, made just under $2 billion.

Christmas week is traditionally a time when studios flood the screens with new releases, and the Star Wars epic was trailed by three new films.

In second place was the Dwayne Johnson family adventure Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle which made $34 million for Sony.

Pitch Perfect 3, which follows the continuing adventures of glee singers the Bellas, led by Anna Kendrick, was in third, earning $20.5 million for Universal.

That was followed by The Greatest Showman, a musical in which Hugh Jackman plays the legendary circus impresario PT Barnum. That earned $8.6 million over the three-day weekend period.

Animated feature Ferdinand, the story of a pacifist bull forced to face down the greatest bullfighter in the world, was fifth. It netted weekend receipts of $7 million in the United States and Canada in its second week.

Rounding out the top ten were:

Coco ($5.2 million)

Downsizing ($4.6 million)

Darkest Hour ($4.1 million)

Father Figures ($3.2 million)

The Shape of Water ($3.1 million).