LOS ANGELES: Sony's family-oriented movie Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle staked out the top spot at the North American box office over the US holiday weekend, gripping first place for the second straight week.
Jumanji, starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and funnymen Jack Black and Kevin Hart, is expected to net US$33.4 million over the Martin Luther King Day weekend, bringing its domestic total to US$289.5 million in its fourth week out, according to industry tracker Exhibitor Relations.
The film follows four teens who find themselves inside the video game world of Jumanji.
In second place was Fox's The Post, slated to pull in US$22.2 million over the Friday-Monday MLK weekend after heading into wide release.
A critically-acclaimed film starring Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks, the political thriller recounts the nail-biting behind-the-scenes story of the 1971 publication by The Washington Post of the Pentagon Papers, which exposed the lies behind US involvement in the Vietnam War.
The Commuter, a new action thriller from Lionsgate, is set to take US$16 million in its first week, putting it in third place.
In the film, a man played by Liam Neeson takes his regular train ride home and is unwittingly enticed into a murder conspiracy by a mysterious woman, played by Vera Farmiga.
Fourth-place Star Wars: The Last Jedi is expected to rake in US$14.7 million in North America. The space saga stars Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver and two members of the series' original cast, Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker and the late Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia.
Fox's The Greatest Showman and new live-action animated comedy Paddington 2 are projected to tie in fifth, both set to nab US$14.5 million.
The Greatest Showman stars the popular Hugh Jackman in the lead role, and tells the story of larger-than-life circus impresario P.T. Barnum.
The second Paddington instalment, which features Hugh Grant, sees the beloved bear wrongfully convicted of stealing a book and jailed. He and some new inmate friends organise a prison break, vying to unmask the real thief.
Rounding out the top 10 were:
Insidious: The Last Key (US$14.2 million)
Proud Mary" (US$12 million)
Pitch Perfect 3 (US$6.8 million)
Darkest Hour (US$5.2 million) – AFP