Scary space movie dethrones funny space movie at box office

Los Angeles : In a battle of space films, Ridley Scott's "Alien: Covenant" beat "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" to the top of the North American box office in its debut weekend, data showed Monday.

"Alien," the sixth installment in a lucrative franchise, took $36.2 million, edging past the $34.7 million logged by Disney's "Guardians" in its third week, according to movie industry monitor Exhibitor Relations. 

Starring Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston and Billy Crudup, "Alien: Covenant" tells the tense story of a spaceship landing on a planet that seems idyllic -- until terrifying aliens attack.

"Guardians," a lighthearted Disney flick about a band of misfit space adventurers played by Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel, showed continued strength, surpassing $300 million in domestic ticket sales.

In third place was new release "Everything, Everything," a Warner Bros. romantic drama about a young woman (Amandla Stenberg) who is told she must spend her life indoors in a sterile environment due to a genetic disorder. 

The film took $11.7 million, largely from a young and female audience, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com.

Next was "Snatched" from Fox, starring Goldie Hawn and Amy Schumer as a mother and daughter on a wild jungle adventure. Its weekend take was $7.8 million.

In fifth was "King Arthur: Legend of the Sword," a revisionist saga directed by Guy Ritchie, which has been dubbed one of the flops of the year.

It took a paltry $7.2 million, a more than 50 percent drop on its already disastrous opening weekend revenue of $15.4 million.

Rounding out the top 10 were:

"Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul" ($7.1 million)

"The Fate of the Furious" ($3.2 million)

"The Boss Baby" ($2.8 million)

"Beauty and the Beast" ($2.5 million)

"How to Be a Latin Lover" ($2.1 million)