´Jumanji´ bounds out of the jungle to top North American box offices

LOS ANGELES: Sony´s family-oriented movie "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle" roared into first place this weekend in North American theaters as horror film "Insidious" edged into second past a slipping "Star Wars" installment, according to industry estimates.

"Jumanji," starring square-jawed Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and funnymen Jack Black and Kevin Hart, was headed for an impressive $36 million for the three-day weekend, bringing its domestic total to $244.4 million in its third week out, said website Exhibitor Relations.

The film, following four teens who find themselves inside the video game world of Jumanji, has grossed more than $500 million worldwide and opens in the huge Chinese market next weekend.

In second place was Universal´s newly released "Insidious: The Last Key," with an estimated take of $29.3 million. The horror film, the fourth installment in the "Insidious" franchise, stars Lin Shaye and Angus Sampson and follows a parapsychologist investigating a haunting in her childhood home.

The news for third-place "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" was mixed: the latest in the hugely popular series has now taken in $1.2 billion worldwide, but it slowed to below warp speed in North America, totaling $23.6 million in its fourth week and taking in just $28.7 million from its opening in China, below industry predictions.

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.

Fourth place went to Fox´s "The Greatest Showman," a "good old-fashioned cornball PG musical" (so says Variety.com) about larger-than-life circus impresario P.T. Barnum. With the popular Hugh Jackman in the lead role, the film logged $13.8 million in its third week, down only slightly from the previous week.

And in fifth was another musical, "Pitch Perfect 3," a Universal sequel that took in $10.2 million in its third week. The movie´s cast, led by Anna Kendrick, follows the continuing adventures of glee singers the Bellas.

Rounding out the top 10 were:

"Ferdinand" ($7.7 million)

"Molly´s Game" ($7 million)

"Darkest Hour" ($6.4 million)

"Coco" ($5.5 million)

"All the Money in the World" ($3.6 million)