Los Angeles, California - New sci-fi horror film Alien: Romulus topped the weekend box office in North American theaters, showing the franchise's continued ability to scare up sizable audiences, analysts said Sunday.

The latest film in a series that began with Ridley Scott's 1979 blockbuster Alien earned an estimated $41.5 million for the Friday-through-Sunday period, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported.

That was "an excellent opening for a late-episode horror sequel," said David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research.

Directed by Uruguayan filmmaker Fede Alvarez (of 2013's Evil Dead), Romulus tells the story of space colonists who, while scavenging in an abandoned space station, encounter a dreaded, face-eating alien.

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Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, and Spike Fearn star.

That strong result finally dethroned Marvel's superhero comedy Deadpool & Wolverine, which slipped to second, taking in $29 million in its fourth weekend out. Ryan Reynolds plays Deadpool with Hugh Jackman reprising his role as Wolverine.

That pushed last weekend's number two – Sony's dramatic romance It Ends With Us, based on the Colleen Hoover novel – down to third, with a still-impressive $24 million.

Behind actor and producer Blake Lively, the film scored one of the best-ever openings for a romance film, despite a very public spat between Lively and co-star and director Justin Baldoni.