Superhero film "Venom" tops N. American box office

Sony's superhero film "Venom" continued to lead North American weekend box office with an estimated 35.7 million U.S. dollars for a second weekend in a row.

"Venom" has brought in 142.8 million dollars in North America after just ten days in release for a global total of 378.1 million dollars through Sunday, according to studio figures collected by comScore.

Based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, the film is directed by Ruben Fleischer and stars Oscar nominated actor Tom Hardy as the lethal protector Venom, one of Marvel's most enigmatic, complex and badass characters. The plot follows a journalist Eddie Brock who is bound to an alien symbiote that gives him superpowers. The film cost a reported around 100 million dollars to make.

Warner Bros.' romantic drama "A Star Is Born" remained in second place with an estimated 28 million dollars in its second weekend, pushing its North American total to 94.16 million dollars to date.

Costing a modest 40 million dollars to produce, the remake of the 1937's film of the same name is directed by Bradley Cooper, in his directorial debut, and stars Cooper and pop singer Lady Gaga among others. The plot follows a hard-drinking musician who discovers and falls in love with a young singer, Lady Gaga's first lead role on the big screen.

Universal's biographical drama film "First Man" opened in third place with an estimated 16.5 million dollars in its first weekend. Based on the book First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong by James R. Hansen, the film is directed by Damien Chazelle and stars Ryan Gosling as Neil Armstrong, the astronaut who became the first man to walk on the Moon in 1969 during Apollo 11 mission.

Sony's horror comedy "Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween" opened in fourth place with an estimated 16.22 million dollars in its debut weekend. Based on R.L. Stine's 400-million-selling series of books, the film is the sequel to 2015's "Goosebumps" and follows two young boys accidentally releasing Slappy the Dummy and the Goosebumps monsters in their town, causing a wave of destruction on Halloween night.

Warner Bros.' animated film "Smallfoot" finished fifth with an estimated 9.3 million dollars in its third weekend for a North American total of 57.6 million dollars through Sunday. The film, loosely based on the book "Yeti Tracks" by Sergio Pablos, follows a group of Himalayan Yeti who come across a human, with each species thinking the other was just a myth.