Furious 7 tops US box office for a fourth week

Furious 7 stars Tyrese Gibson, Michelle Rodriguez, Paul Walker and Chris Ludacris

Furious 7 has topped the US and Canada box office for a fourth week, as Avengers: Age of Ultron leads the box office chart internationally, a week ahead of its US release.

The latest Fast & Furious film took £18.3m (£12.2m), with Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 in second with $15.5m (£10.3m).

Last weekend Furious 7 became the fastest film to make more than $1bn (£669.5 million) internationally.

The Avengers sequel opened in 44 territories, taking $201.2m (£133.8m).

The latest instalment in Joss Whedon's superhero franchise, starring Robert Downey Jr, Mark Ruffalo and Scarlett Johansson, opens in the US and Canada on Thursday, as well as dozens more countries and territories.

Scarlett Johansson returns as Black Widow, also known as Natasha Romanoff, in Avengers: Age of Ultron

Furious 7, starring Vin Diesel and the late Paul Walker, has now made $1.3 billion globally.

It is also the first film to top the US box office for four weeks since The Hunger Games in March 2012.

Despite mixed reviews, fantasy romance The Age of Adaline opened in third place with $13.4m (£8.9m).

It stars Blake Lively as a woman who is forced to stay 29 years old, along with Harrison Ford and Ellen Burstyn.

Animated alien hit Home was fourth with $8.4m (£5.6m) while social media thriller Unfriended was fifth with $6.2m (£4.1m).

In the UK, Disney has said early figures show Avengers: Age of Ultron dominated the box office over the weekend and is on course to deliver the biggest opening of 2015 so far.