'Get Out' scares off competition to top box office

Jordan Peele's socially conscious horror film "Get Out" scared off last week's holdovers, beating expectations to grab the top spot at North American box offices on its debut weekend, an industry group projected on Sunday.

Peele's feature directorial debut -- the actor is half of the comedy duo "Kay and Peele" -- follows a young African-American man (Daniel Kaluuya) who's so nervous about meeting the family of his white girlfriend (Allison Williams), he fails to realise the menace lurking at their mansion.

Generating critical acclaim on top of rave reviews from audiences, the Universal/Blumhouse film -- which cost under $5 million to produce -- raked in $30.5 million, the box office tracker Exhibitor Relations predicted.

Last week's winner, the 3D, computer-generated action and comedy film "The Lego Batman Movie," came in second with $19 million on its third week for a total of $133 million. Featuring the voice of Will Arnett as the caped crusader, the Warner Bros spinoff of the "The Lego Movie" follows Batman as he tries to save Gotham City from being taken over by the Joker, voiced by Zach Galifianakis.

Also in its third week, Lionsgate's "John Wick: Chapter 2" came in third with $9 million in revenue for a three-week total of $74.4 million.

The thriller stars Keanu Reeves as a hitman forced out of retirement in order to repay a debt to a fellow hired killer with whom he has signed a blood oath.

"The Great Wall" took fourth place with $8.7 million following a disappointing debut last week. Universal's lavish action thriller starring Matt Damon -- filmed with a $150 million budget and billed as the first English-language production shot entirely in China -- follows European mercenaries searching for black powder who get caught up defending the Great Wall of China against a group of monsters.

"Fifty Shades Darker," Universal's second installment of the steamy "Fifty Shades" franchise based on the novels of E.L. James, came in fifth with $7.7 million for a total of $103.6 million in three weeks.

Rounding out the top 10 are:

"Fist Fight" ($6.4 million)

"Hidden Figures" ($5.9 million)

"La La Land" ($4.6 million)

"Split" ($4.1 million)

"Lion" ($3.8 million)