LOS ANGELES — M. Night Shyamalan’s latest thriller Glass bested the competition at the North American box office for a second straight weekend, taking in US$18.9 million, industry figures showed on Monday.

The film unites the narratives of the director’s Unbreakable (2000) and Split (2016), and stars Bruce Willis, Samuel L Jackson and James McAvoy.

The second and third spots at the box office remained unchanged from last weekend.

Buddy drama The Upside -- starring Bryan Cranston as a wealthy quadriplegic who hires ex-convict Kevin Hart as his caretaker -- earned $11.9 million.

Superhero flick Aquaman, starring Jason Momoa as the underwater king, hauled in another $7.3 million.

It has now generated $1.09 billion in global box office revenues, making it the largest DC Comics adaptation of all time, according to industry tracker Exhibitor Relations.

A new release from Fox, The Kid Who Would Be King, placed fourth with $7.2 million for the three-day weekend.

That would be a "potentially disastrous result for a film that cost over $60 million" to make, according to Variety.

The movie stars Louis Ashbourne Serkis (son of Andy Serkis, Gollum in the Lord of the Rings trilogy) as a boy living in modern times who stumbles upon King Arthur’s legendary sword Excalibur. It has drawn largely positive reviews.

In fifth spot -- and hanging strong in its seventh week out -- was Sony’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, with takings of $6.1 million. The film is the favorite to win an Oscar for best animated feature next month.

Rounding out the weekend’s top 10 were:

Green Book ($5.5 million)

A Dog’s Way Home ($5.1 million)

Serenity ($4.4 million)

Escape Room ($4.1 million)

Mary Poppins Returns ($3.3 million). — AFP