'Lego Batman' beats 'Fifty Shades Darker'

 "The Lego Batman Movie" dominated "Fifty Shades Darker" in a battle of new releases at North American box offices over the weekend, an industry group said Sunday.

The Warner Bros spinoff of the "Lego Movie" finished on top with $55.6 million, against $46.8 million for the second flick in the steamy bondage franchise based on the novels of EL James, said Exhibitor Relations.

Featuring the voice of Will Arnett as the caped crusader, the new Lego offering is a 3D, computer-generated action and comedy film that follows Batman as he tries to save Gotham City from being taken over by Joker, whose voice is that of Zach Galifianakis.

Third place went to "John Wick: Chapter 2," debuting with a respectable $30 million in revenue. 

The thriller stars Keanu Reeves as a hitman forced out of retirement, who reluctantly agrees to repay a debt to a fellow hired killer with whom he has signed a blood oath -- ending up with a $7 million bounty on his head. The film also stars Common and Laurence Fishburne.

"Split," M Night Shyamalan's thriller about a man with multiple personalities who abducts three teenage girls, dropped from first to fourth place in its fourth week in theaters, with weekend revenue of $9.3 million for a total of $112.3 million since coming out. It was made on a budget of just $9 million.

In fifth place was "Hidden Figures," Fox's true-life story of three black women mathematicians who helped NASA put the first men in space. The comedy-drama, starring Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monae, took in $8 million in its eighth week, for a cumulative total of $131.5 million. 

Rounding out the Top 10 are:

"A Dog's Purpose" ($7.4 million)

"Rings" ($5.8 million)

"La La Land" ($5 million)

"Lion" ($4.08 million)

"The Space Between Us" ($1.76 million)

source: AFP