Stiller film terminates Salvation

Night at the Museum 2 sees Stiller (left) joined by actress Amy Adams

Ben Stiller sequel Night at the Museum 2 made more at the North American box office over the four-day Memorial Day weekend than the new Terminator film.

Stiller's film, a follow-up to his 2006 success, took $70m (£44m) in the US and Canada between Friday and Monday.

Terminator Salvation, by contrast, made $53.8m (£33.9m) over the same period.

According to distributor Warner Bros, the futuristic action film has made a total of $67.2m (£42.4m) since opening in North American cinemas on Thursday.

That, however, was not enough to take it to the top of this week's box office countdown.

"I think people expected it to be number one because of that Terminator name alone," said Paul Dergarabedian of box office tracking firm Hollywood.com.

'Incredibly strong'

"If you look at it objectively though, it's a sci-fi action film that played to an older audience."

Starring Christian Bale and Australian actor Sam Worthington, the latest Terminator film depicts a war between humans and machines in a post-apocalyptic America.

US AND CANADA BOX OFFICE 1. Night at the Museum 2 - $70m 2. Terminator Salvation (above) - $53.8m 3. Star Trek - $29.4m 4. Angels and Demons - $27.7m 5. Dance Flick - $13.1m Source: Hollywood.com (formerly Media by Numbers)

It is the first film in the futuristic franchise since Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines came out in 2003.

Night at the Museum 2, starring Stiller as a security guard faced with exhibits that come to life, took almost twice as much as its predecessor did in its opening weekend.

"It's blown away our expectations," said Chris Aronson of 20th Century Fox, who said the film had enjoyed an "incredibly strong" opening.

The latest Star Trek film continued to pull in the crowds in its third week on release, takings of $29.4m (£18.5m) swelling its overall figure to $191m.

JJ Abrams' film is set to take over from animated comedy Monsters vs Aliens as the year's top-grossing movie.

Last week's top title, Da Vinci Code follow-up Angels and Demons, dropped to four with a second weekend haul of $27.7m (£17.4m).

That still put it ahead of comedy spoof Dance Flick, the only new entry in this week's top 10 at number five.

Night at the Museum 2 will face stiff competition in US cinemas this weekend from Pixar movie Up.

Released in 3D, the animated feature received rave reviews following its opening night premiere at this year's Cannes Film Festival.

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