7 weeks later, ‘Jumanji’ is still no. 1

NEWYORK — The heir to “Titanic” is ... “Jumanji: Welcome the Jungle”?

For the first time since James Cameron’s 1998 disaster epic, a December release has topped the weekend box office in February. Seven weeks after first opening in theaters, Sony Pictures’ “Jumanji” again took the top spot at the North American box office with an estimated $11 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.

On a Super Bowl weekend, that was good enough to surpass last week’s no. 1 film, “Maze Runner: The Death Cure.” The third installment in the YA trilogy slid 58 percent in its second week with $10.2 million in ticket sales. Though “The Death Cure” is behind the pace of the first two “Maze Runner” films, it’s made $142.9 million overseas.

But it’s the fourth weekend out of seven in which the “Jumanji” reboot, starring Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart, has led all films domestically.It has carved an unlikely path on route to its record-setting run. Met with little initial fanfare, “Jumanji” played second fiddle for its first two weeks of release to “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.”

But riding good word of mouth and relatively little family-film competition, “Jumanji” has become one of Sony’s biggest hits ever, ranking behind only its “Spider-Man” films. It has now grossed $352.6 million in the U.S. and Canada.

The Helen Mirren-led haunted-house horror film “Winchester” was the sole new wide release on a weekend that Hollywood typically cedes to football. The poorly reviewed Lionsgate-CBS Films release opened with $9.3 million.

Total ticket sales were $92 million, according to comScore, a sum that falls behind recent Super Bowl weekends — always among the quietest movie weekends of the year — but above the lowest grossing ever.

Estimated ticket sales (in millions) for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to comScore.

1. “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” — $11.0

2. “Maze Runner: The Death Cure” — $10.2

3. “Winchester” — $9.3

4. “The Greatest Showman” — $7.8

5. “Hostiles” — $5.5

6. “The Post” — $5.2

7. “12 Strong” — $4.7

8. “Den of Thieves” — $4.7

9. “The Shape of Water” — $4.3

10. “Paddington 2” — $3.1