‘Avatar’ No. 1 for 6th week

‘Avatar’ No. 1 for 6th week

LOS ANGELES — James Cameron’s “Avatar” is on a course to sink “Titanic” at the box office.

No. 1 for the sixth-straight weekend with $36 million, the 20th Century Fox sci-fi spectacle lifted its domestic total to $552.8 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. “Avatar” raised its worldwide total to $1.841 billion. That’s $2 million shy of first place behind Cameron’s last movie, the 1997 shipwreck epic “Titanic,” at $1.843 billion.

The studio said “Avatar” has hit $1.29 billion in international ticket sales, passing the $1.24 billion mark set by “Titanic.” “Avatar” soared past “The Dark Knight” on Saturday to become the second-highest-grossing film.

Guthrie show aids victims

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. — Folk singer Arlo Guthrie has headlined a sold-out concert that raised more than $10,000 for the victims of series of arson fires in western Massachusetts.

Saturday night’s show at the Academy of Music also featured two local bands and other guests, and singer-songwriter Martin Sexton made a surprise appearance.

Michael Kusek, an organizer of the Northampton Neighbors Relief Fund, says the fund had already raised more than $40,000 for those who lost property in a string of 15 fires set in the early hours of Dec. 27.

One fire killed World War II veteran Paul Yeskie Sr. and his son, Paul Yeskie Jr.

Today’s birthdays

Actor Dean Jones is 79. Country singer Claude Gray is 78. Blues singer Etta James is 72. Actress Leigh Taylor-Young (“Peyton Place,” “Soylent Green”) is 65. Actress Dinah Manoff (“Empty Nest”) is 52. Country drummer Mike Burch of River Road is 44. Actress Ana Ortiz (“Ugly Betty”) is 39. Guitarist Matt Odmark of Jars of Clay is 36. Singer Alicia Keys is 29.