LOS ANGELES — Avengers: Endgame led the North American box office for a third week running, but the cuddly creatures of a new Pokemon movie gave the superheroes a run for its money, industry watchers said Sunday.

The mega-blockbuster from Marvel Studios, a Disney subsidiary, took in an estimated US$63.1 million for the three-day weekend, industry tracker Exhibitor Relations reported.

That brought its domestic total to a whopping $723.5 million. With a global tally now nearing $2.5 billion, Avengers appears to be on track to pass Avatar ($2.79 billion) as the all-time top grossing film.

Positive reviews have helped, as has an all-star cast including Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Bradley Cooper and Josh Brolin.

(L-R) Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige with Avengers: Endgame actors Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo and Jeremy Renner, April 2019, Hollywood. Photo AFP

Warner Bros.' Pokemon: Detective Pikachu took in a healthy $58 million for the weekend's second spot. Based on a Nintendo video game series and subsequent anime series,

Pikachu tells the story of how the fuzzy animated title character (voiced by Ryan Reynolds) teams up with a young boy (a live-action role played by Justice Smith) to seek the boy's missing father.

Third place went to another new film, The Hustle from United Artists, at $13.5 million. The female-driven revamp of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels starring Rebel Wilson and Anne Hathaway playing two women trying to scam an internet millionaire earned less than glowing reviews, but that may have been offset by its popular stars. — AFP