´Abominable´ rules N.American box office

LOS ANGELES: "Abominable" froze out "Downton Abbey" to take the top spot in the North American box office on its first weekend in theaters, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations said Monday.

The story of a teenager and her friends working to help a young Yeti -- whom they nickname Everest -- reunite with his family and avoid the clutches of a wealthy man intent on capturing one of the magical creatures took in $20.6 million.

It beat out "Downton Abbey," the movie follow-up to the hit TV series about a British upper-class family and their stately home, which fell to second place at $14.3 million in its second weekend.

The Jennifer Lopez movie "Hustlers" -- based on a true story about strippers who plot to steal from their wealthy clients in recession-hit New York -- came in third, with $11.4 million.

Horror flick "IT: Chapter Two" -- which features the grown-up versions of the kids who battled the terrifying, shape-shifting clown Pennywise 27 years earlier and now must do it again -- placed fourth with $10.2 million.

And "Ad Astra," in which Brad Pitt plays an astronaut sent on a dangerous mission at the edge of the solar system, was fifth at $10 million.

Rounding out the weekend´s top 10 were:

"Rambo: Last Blood" ($8.6 million)

"Judy" ($2.9 million)

"Good Boys" ($2.1 million)

"The Lion King" ($1.7 million)

"Angel Has Fallen" ($1.5 million)