‘The Last Jedi’ tops Christmas box office in North America

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 $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)