'Avatar' heading for another weekend win

James Cameron's "Avatar" beat all new releases Friday at the North American box office by scoring a daily gross of $9.1 million. Fox's sci-fi epic reached a total haul of $525.9 million after 36 days in release.

"Avatar" is on track to win the weekend race again, and it will also beat the domestic total of "The Dark Knight" before Sunday. The Golden Globe-winning film may even end up leading next weekend.

At No. 2, new entry "Legion" collected $6.7 million from ticket sales at 2,476 locations. Starring Paul Bettany, the flick follows a bunch of strangers battling an army of angels to ptotect humanity's only hope.

Following in third place was "The Book of Eli," which picked up $4.9 million Friday. The post-apocalyptic film starring Denzel Washington, Mila Kunis and Gary Oldman brought its total to $49.9 million.

Also opening this weekend was "Tooth Fairy," which only made it to No. 4 Friday with $3.5 million. In the comedy, Dwayne Johnson plays a hockey player who has to serve duty as a real tooth fairy.

"Extraordinary Measures," this weekend's third new release, finished sixth with a daily gross of $2 million. Peter Jackson's "The Lovely Bones" was fifth with $2.6 million for a cume of $25.4 million.

Source: Box Office Mojo (www.boxofficemojo.com)