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James Cameron’s new film Avatar went straight to the top of the North American box office chart in its opening weekend, raking in $73 million (£45 million).

The 3D science-fiction epic, which is the director’s first feature-length movie since Titanic, also earned $159 million overseas.

Disney’s The Princess and the Frog dropped to number two in the chart, while The Blind Side was at three and new release Did You Hear About the Morgans? came in at fourth with a disappointing $7 million.

Avatar is thought to be one of the most expensive films ever made with an estimated production budget of $400 million, but industry experts believe that it could prove to be money well spent.

“What they spent on this movie was totally justified and they’re going to more than earn it back,” said Paul Dergarabedian, box office analyst for Hollywood.com.

The film stars Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana and Sigourney Weaver and could inspire a range of T-shirts among devoted fans.

Despite a running time of two hours and 40 minutes, the Guardian has described Avatar as “spectacular popcorn entertainment”.