LOS ANGELES, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- James Cameron's epic science fiction film "Avatar: The Way of Water" stayed atop the North American box office chart with an estimated three-day cume of 56 million U.S. dollars over Christmas weekend, data from measurement firm Comscore showed on Sunday.

The tentpole, distributed by Disney's 20th Century Studios, has grossed 253.7 million dollars in North American theaters after ten days.

Internationally, the film also took in 168.6 million dollars this weekend, pushing its international cume to 601.7 million dollars for a global total of 855.4 million dollars, including over 100 million dollars from the Chinese mainland.

"Avatar: The Way of Water" is the second installment in the Avatar film series directed by Cameron. It's the sequel to the 2009 blockbuster "Avatar," the highest-grossing film of all time at the global box office with 2.9 billion dollars.

Set more than a decade after the events of the first film, "Avatar: The Way of Water" tells the story of the Sully family, the trouble that follows them, the lengths they go to keep each other safe, the battles they fight to stay alive and the tragedies they endure.

In a distant second place, Universal Pictures and DreamWorks Animation's animated comedy adventure film "Puss In Boots: The Last Wish" opened in second place with 11.35 million dollars this weekend.

Rounding out the top three, another newcomer, Sony's release of TriStar Pictures' biographical musical drama film "Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody," earned 5.3 million dollars on its opening weekend.