Entertainment news

Ben Stillers “Night at the Museum” sequel crushed the fourth installment of the “Terminator” franchise in a battle for North American box office supremacy between two special-effects extravaganzas.

On the other hand, Warner Bros. “Terminator Salvation” — the first in the series without Arnold Schwarzenegger — made its debut at No. 2 with a disappointing 53.8 million.

According to studio estimates issued on Monday, “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian” earned 70 million during the four days beginning Friday, outperforming the expectations of its distributor, 20th Century Fox.

Big studio movies rarely open against each other during the lucrative summer period in order to avoid cannibalization. But in this case families made up almost half of the audience for “Night at the Museum” while men accounted for 70 percent of the audience for “Terminator.”

“Star Trek” slipped one place to No. 3 with 29.4 million in its third weekend. Reigning champ “Angels & Demons” fell to No. 4 with 27.7 million in its second weekend, although the Tom Hanks Vatican thriller remained the top choice internationally.

The 43-year-old actor reprises his role as a night security guard at a museum where historical figures come to life. The cast also includes Robin Williams as former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt and Amy Adams as aviatrix Amelia Earhart.

Stiller, one of Hollywoods most reliable box office performers, set a personal live-action record with his new film. His previous best was the 46 million start for “Meet the Fockers” in 2004.

The first movie, “Night at the Museum,” earned 30 million during its first three days just before Christmas 2006, and went on to make 250 million.

Fox, a unit of News Corp said it would have been happy with a four-day opening above 60 million. The film cost about 125 million to make.

Since opening on Thursday, in order to get a head start on the U.S. Memorial Day holiday weekend, “Terminator Salvation” has earned 67.2 million, falling short of industry forecasts in the 70 million range.

The previous “Terminator” film, “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines” finished with 150 million in 2003, an indication of the new films underdog status in the weekend derby.

The post-apocalyptic film, in which “Batman” star Christian Bale takes on the freedom-fighter role of John Connor, cost about 180 million to make, the studio said.

But Warner Bros. domestic distribution president Dan Fellman said he was happy with the performance, noting that the latest entry in the 25-year-old sci-fi franchise had a narrowly defined target audience.

After 11 days, Columbias “Angels & Demons” has earned 87.8 million, far short of the 145 million haul in the same time period for its 2006 predecessor “The Da Vinci Code.”

The Time Warner Inc unit paid 50 million for domestic distribution rights from closely held producer Halcyon Co. Sony Corps Columbia Pictures has foreign rights.

Paramount Pictures youth-oriented reboot of the “Star Trek” sci-fi franchise has earned 191 million after three weekends.

But the studio has said it never expected the second film to be as big. As was the case with “The Da Vinci Code,” the film is a much bigger international draw. Its overseas total stood at 198.3 million through Sunday.

The Viacom Inc unit also claimed the No. 5 spot with “Dance Flick,” a comedy spoof from the Wayans family. It earned a modest 13.5 million.