LOS ANGELES: In a battle of space films, Ridley Scott's Alien: Covenant beat Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 to the top of the North American box office in its debut weekend, data showed Monday.
Alien, the sixth installment in a lucrative franchise, took US$36.2 million, edging past the US$34.7 million logged by Disney's Guardians in its third week, according to movie industry monitor Exhibitor Relations.
Starring Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston and Billy Crudup, Alien: Covenant tells the tense story of a spaceship landing on a planet that seems idyllic – until terrifying aliens attack.
Guardians, a light-hearted Disney flick about a band of misfit space adventurers played by Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel, showed continued strength, surpassing US$300 million in domestic ticket sales.
In third place was new release Everything, Everything, a Warner Bros. romantic drama about a young woman (Amandla Stenberg) who is told she must spend her life indoors in a sterile environment due to a genetic disorder.
The film took US$11.7 million, largely from a young and female audience, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com.
Next was Snatched from Fox, starring Goldie Hawn and Amy Schumer as a mother and daughter on a wild jungle adventure. Its weekend take was US$7.8 million.
In fifth was King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, a revisionist saga directed by Guy Ritchie, which has been dubbed one of the flops of the year.
It took a paltry US$7.2 million, a more than 50 per cent drop on its already disastrous opening weekend revenue of US$15.4 million.
Rounding out the top 10 were:
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul (US$7.1 million)
The Fate of the Furious (US$3.2 million)
The Boss Baby (US$2.8 million)
Beauty and the Beast (US$2.5 million)
How to Be a Latin Lover (US$2.1 million) – AFP