LOS ANGELES: The latest “Twilight” teen vampire sequel was the most popular movie in North America for the third weekend in a row, industry figures showed Monday.

The vampire heart-throbber neared the quarter-billion-dollar mark, raking in a total of $246.9 million since it opened, and $16.5 this weekend alone, according to Exhibitor Relations.

That put the teen flick ahead of “The Muppets,” the new film based on the Jim Henson puppet characters, which grossed $11.1 million in its second week in theaters for a total run of $56.4 million so far.

Martin Scorsese's first 3D film “Hugo” came in third place. The adventure drama based on Brian Selznick's novel “The Invention of Hugo Cabret” about a boy who lives alone in a Paris railway station raked in $7.6 million.

Staying in fourth place was animated family comedy “Arthur Christmas,”about Santa's son tasked with completing a mission by Christmas morning. It pulled in $7.4 million.

In other family fare, penguin tale “Happy Feet Two” landed in fifth place, with $5.9 million.

Adam Sandler's “Jack and Jill” comedy in which he plays both a successful Los Angeles advertising executive and his needy twin sister Jill, came in sixth. It got $5.4 million.

In seventh was George Clooney comedy-drama “The Descendants,” with $4.8 million, enough to push it ahead of big-budget 3-D epic “Immortals,” which got 4.5 million.

Action comedy “Tower Heist,” starring Eddie Murphy and Ben Stiller, scored $4 million to come in ninth, ahead of animated children's film “Puss in Boots,”with $3 million.