LOS ANGELES - "The Fantastic Four: First Steps," Disney's hotly anticipated reboot of the Marvel Comics superhero franchise, conquered the North American weekend box office, earning $118-million and sidelining "Superman," industry estimates showed Sunday.
"Fantastic Four" -- starring actor-of-the-moment Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Emmy winner Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Joseph Quinn ("Stranger Things') -- tells the story of a team of heroes trying to save a retro-futuristic world from the evil Galactus.
"This is an outstanding opening," said David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research. "'Fantastic Four' was a modest and struggling superhero series; it just caught up with the biggest and the best."
"Superman," the latest big-budget action film featuring the iconic superhero from Warner Bros. and DC Studios, slipped to second place at $24.9 million, Exhibitor Relations said.
That puts the global take of the film, starring David Corenswet as the Man of Steel, over the $500-million mark.
"Jurassic World: Rebirth" -- the latest instalment in the blockbuster dinosaur saga -- finished in third place at $13-million. Its worldwide total stands at $672.5-million.
The Universal film, starring Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey and Mahershala Ali, takes viewers to an abandoned island research facility, where secrets -- and genetically mutated dinosaurs -- are lurking.
"F1: The Movie," the Apple and Warner Bros. flick starring Brad Pitt as a washed-up Formula One driver who gets one last shot at redemption, moved up to fourth place at $6.2-million.
"Smurfs," the latest film featuring the adorable blue creatures and starring Rihanna as Smurfette, slipped to fifth place in only its second week in theatres with $5.4-million in North American ticket sales.