Japanese anime film "Demon Slayer: Mugen Train" tops North American weekend box office

Japanese anime film "Demon Slayer: Mugen Train" led ticket sales at the North American box office this weekend with an estimated 6.42 million U.S. dollars from 1,905 theaters, slightly edging out Warner Bros.' martial arts fantasy film "Mortal Kombat."

According to studio figures collected by measurement firm Comscore, FUNimation's action adventure film has grossed 34.1 million dollars to date after 10 days in North America.

Based on the popular comic book series by Japanese manga artist Koyoharu Gotouge, the film is a sequel to the first season of the television series.

"Demon Slayer: Mugen Train" has surprised moviegoers with over 423 million dollars in global receipts. The film took in 19.5 million dollars in its opening weekend in North America last week, scoring the biggest opening of all time for a foreign-language film in the United States so far. It's also the highest-grossing film of all time in Japan so far.

The film holds an approval rating of 95 percent based on 22 reviews to date on review-aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes.

In a close second was "Mortal Kombat," which earned 6.23 million dollars from 3,114 locations in its second weekend. The film's North American cumulative tally now stands at 34.08 million dollars for a global total of 66.9 million dollars.

Inspired by the blockbuster video game franchise of the same name, "Mortal Kombat" is helmed by Australian filmmaker Simon McQuoid in his feature directorial debut. The film features a diverse international cast, including some of Chinese descent, such as Lewis Tan, Ludi Lin and Chin Han.

In the film, as Outworld's threat to Earthrealm grows, some champions from Earth must team up to fight against the enemies of Outworld in a high-stakes battle for the universe.

Warner Bros. and Legendary's monster film "Godzilla vs. Kong" came in third with 2.74 million dollars from 2,753 locations in its fifth weekend for a North American cume of 90.31 million dollars.

The film has earned 415.4 million dollars worldwide to date, including more than 187 million dollars from the Chinese mainland.

The monster mash-up is the fourth entry in Warner Bros. and Legendary's MonsterVerse franchise. In the film, the two iconic silver screen behemoths meet in a spectacular battle for the ages, with the fate of the world hanging in the balance.

Directed by Adam Wingard, the film stars Alexander Skarsgard, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Shun Oguri, Eiza Gonzalez and Julian Dennison.

Open Road and Briarcliff Entertainment's horror film "Separation" opened in the fourth place with 1.83 million dollars from 1,751 locations this weekend.

Directed by William Brent Bell and starring Rupert Friend, Mamie Gummer, Madeline Brewer and Violet McGraw, the film follows a young girl who finds solace in her artist father and the ghost of her dead mother.

Disney's animated action-adventure film "Raya and the Last Dragon" finished fifth with 1.33 million dollars from 1,810 locations in its ninth weekend for a North American cume of 41.58 million dollars.

Directed by Don Hall and Carlos Lopez Estrada, inspired by Southeast Asian culture and set in the fantasy land of Kumandra, the film follows a young girl who sets off on a perilous journey to find the legendary last dragon to help unite her fractured land and save her divided people from an ancient evil force that threatens them all.

"Raya and the Last Dragon" features a predominantly Asian American voice cast led by Kelly Marie Tran and Awkwafina.