Actor Jack Black arrives for the Hollywood premiere of Jumanji: The Next Level -- the movie dominated the box office in its debut weekend in theatres. — Photo AFP/VNA

LOS ANGELES — Jumanji: The Next Level iced out Frozen II at the North American box office last weekend, raking in an estimated US$60.1 million in its debut, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported on Sunday.

Sony's latest Jumanji sequel stars Jack Black, Dwayne ("The Rock") Johnson and Kevin Hart as a group of friends returning to the dangerous but fascinating world of the Jumanji game.

Disney's Frozen II -- a return to Arendelle and the magical animated world of Queen Elsa, sister Anna and the gang -- took in an estimated $19.2 million for the Friday-to-Sunday period.

In third place was Lionsgate's droll murder mystery Knives Out, at $9.3 million. Daniel Craig stars as a Southern detective hired by an anonymous client to unravel the bloody death of a wealthy patriarch.

Fourth spot went to new Warner Bros. release Richard Jewell, a revisiting of the real-life tale of an Atlanta security guard falsely accused of playing a part in the 1996 Olympics bombing.

The film sparked controversy by suggesting that a now-dead female journalist traded sex for inside information. At $5 million, it was one of the poorest openings ever for a Clint Eastwood movie.

In fifth was Universal's new slasher film Black Christmas, which appropriately opened last Friday the 13th, with a $4.4 million take that nearly recouped the film's $5 million cost.

It features a group of sorority sisters stranded on a deserted campus over the holidays -- naturally, fending off a killer.  AFP