LOS ANGELES, July 3 — The latest — and likely last — instalment in the popular Indiana Jones franchise lassoed the competition at the North American box office, industry estimates showed yesterday, but analysts noted the weak debut for the fan favourite.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, starring Harrison Ford in the role the archaeologist he first made famous more than 40 years ago, earned about US$60 million, according to Exhibitor Relations.

With that, Indy booted animated sequel Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse from the top spot, but analysts said it was a weak start for the fifth Indiana Jones movie.

"Audience ratings are good, while critics reviews are lukewarm,” said David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research.

Gross noted the Disney film is believed to have cost a whopping US$295 million to make before marketing, but added that it was likely to make up ground overseas, where it opened with US$70 million in sales.

Across the Spider-Verse, the second instalment in Sony’s inventive animated take on the web-slinging superhero, brought in US$11.5 million for second place, bringing its domestic total to nearly US$340 million.

Pixar’s animated immigrant fable Elemental, which was bumped from second to third place, raked in US$11.3 million.

Also from Sony, No Hard Feelings — a throwback to the once-ubiquitous raunchy comedy genre, starring Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence — brought in US$7.5 million for fourth place.

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, one of the many spin-offs and sequels dominating theatres this summer, brought in US$7 million for fifth place.

Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken debuted this weekend in sixth place, bringing in what Gross called a "weak” US$5.2 million.

The animated offering from Universal’s Dreamworks follows a shy teenager who discovers she is a descendant of the titular mythic sea creatures.

Rounding out the top 10 were:

The Little Mermaid (US$5.15 million)

The Flash (US$5 million)

Asteroid City (US$3.8 million)

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (US$1.8 million)

— AFP