On an otherwise quiet movie weekend, 'Ralph' wrecks it again

John C Reilly, who voices the title character in Disney's box-office-leading

Hollywood (United States) (AFP) - Disney's "Ralph Breaks the Internet" has again topped North American box offices, taking in an estimated $16.1 million for the weekend to narrowly edge out another family-oriented animation, Universal's "The Grinch," industry tracker Exhibitor Relations said Sunday.

On a last quiet weekend before the coming crush of holiday films, the order of the top five films on this three-day weekend was, remarkably, exactly the same as last weekend.

"Ralph," a family-friendly sequel to 2012's "Wreck It Ralph" with the title character voiced by John C. Reilly, came in just ahead of "Grinch," which sold $15.7 million in tickets. Benedict Cumberbatch voices the grouchy Seuss-inspired title character in that film.

In third spot again was MGM's boxing drama "Creed II," at $10.3 million. This latest in the long-running "Rocky" series stars Michael B. Jordan as Adonis Creed as he -- coached by the aging Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) -- takes on the son of the boxer who killed his father.

Fourth place went to "Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald" from Warner Bros., with a take of $6.8 million. The Harry Potter prequel stars Eddie Redmayne, Jude Law and Johnny Depp.

And in fifth was Fox's "Bohemian Rhapsody," at $6 million. Rami Malek has drawn rave reviews for his portrayal of rock group Queen's talented singer Freddie Mercury.

The coming weeks will see the release of some expected blockbusters, including "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse," "The Mule," "Mary Poppins Returns" and "Aquaman," which scored a huge $93.6 million over the weekend in China.

Rounding out the weekend's top 10 were:

"Instant Family" ($5.6 million)

"Green Book" ($3.9 million)

"Robin Hood" ($3.6 million)

"The Possession of Hannah Grace" ($3.2 million)

"Widows" ($3.1 million)

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© Agence France-Presse