LOS ANGELES, July 22 — Universal's Twisters spun up a huge maiden weekend, earning an estimated US$80.5 million (RM372mil) to top the North American box office, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations said yesterday.

The stand-alone follow-up to 1996's popular Twister — under the seemingly unlikely direction of the man who helmed sweet Korean-American family drama Minari, Lee Isaac Chung — had been projected to make closer to US$50 million.

But strong reviews and a cast led by Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones helped propel the film — about storm chasers caught in the middle of fast-converging tornadoes — to what The Hollywood Reporter said was the top domestic opening ever for a natural disaster film.

"The spectacle, the special effects and the set pieces are bigger and better (than the original film),” said analyst David A. Gross. "It's perfect summer entertainment.”

Twisters ousted the previous top earner, another Universal film, animated comedy Despicable Me 4, which placed second with US$23.8 million in ticket sales for the Friday-through-Sunday period.

Holding steady in third was Disney and Pixar's coming-of-age animation Inside Out 2, at US$12.8 million. In its six weeks out, it has earned US$596.4 million domestically and an additional US$847 million globally.

In fourth, down two spots, was horror mystery Longlegs from indie studio Neon. Nicolas Cage stars in the tale of an FBI agent (Maika Monroe) tracking a creepy serial killer.

And in fifth, slipping one spot, was Paramount's apocalyptic horror film A Quiet Place: Day One. Lupita Nyong'o plays a seriously ill woman in a New York invaded by keen-eared extraterrestrials. — AFP