Titanic becomes second ever film to take $2 billion

James Cameron has shored up his position as king of the box office after the 3-D re-release of Titanic meant the 1997 film went beyond the $2 billion mark (£1.26 billion)

Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in a scene from James Cameron's film Titanic

The release of the film was timed to the centennial of the ship's sinking.

Only one other film has topped the magic $2 billion mark, which was also Cameron's – the 2009 hit Avatar which earned $2.8 billion worldwide.

The "Titanic" reissue took in about $100 million this weekend – $11.6 million domestically and a whopping $88.2 million in 69 overseas markets. That included a $58 million debut in China and put the re-release total worldwide at $190.8 million.

Added to the film's $1.84 billion haul in its original release, "Titanic" now stands at $2.03 billion worldwide.

Meanwhile in the US box office, The Hunger games stayed on top for a fourth-straight weekend with $21.5 million, raising the film's domestic total to $337.1 million.

Another big overseas haul came with Universal's "Battleship," which opened with $58 million in 26 countries five weeks ahead of its US debut on May 18. The action tale featuring Taylor Kitsch and Liam Neeson is inspired by the game Battleship.