LOS ANGELES, April 8 — Godzilla x Kong extended its monstrous reign over the North American box office for a second weekend, according to estimates yesterday from industry watcher Exhibitor Relations.

The feature, which sees the enormous gorilla and reptilian giant set their differences aside and team up to save their species — and ours — took in US$31.7 million over the weekend in the United States and Canada, according to the figures.

In second place with an estimated US$10 million in ticket sales was action film Monkey Man, which British actor Dev Patel both directs and stars in.

The thriller, set in India, is "ultra-violent, driven by class differences, corruption and personal vengeance,” said analyst David A. Gross.

"Foreign stories do not always work in North America; it’s working here,” he wrote, adding: "it’s going to be very profitable.”

In third place was Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, which took in US$9 million.

Co-written by Jason Reitman, whose father Ivan Reitman directed the first Ghostbusters in 1984, the film teams a new cadre of ghost catchers with the original cast as they take on a frightening deity trying to launch a new Ice Age.

In fourth place was the horror film The First Omen, an intrigue between the Catholic Church and the forces of evil. It grossed US$8.4 million in North American cinemas.

Relegated to fifth place, Kung Fu Panda 4, Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s martial arts comedy, which earned US$7.9 million.

Rounding out the top 10 were:

Dune: Part Two (US$7.2 million)

Someone like you (US$3 million)

Wicked Little Letters (US$1.6 million)

Arthur the King (US$1.5 million)

Immaculate (US$1.4 million)

— AFP