"Onward" dominates North American box office in opening weekend

Disney and Pixar's fantasy film "Onward" dominated North American box office with a solid 40 million U.S. dollars in its opening weekend.

The all-new original film also earned 28 million dollars in 47 material territories for a global debut of 68 million dollars, according to studio figures collected by measurement firm Comscore.

The film is directed by Dan Scanlon and produced by Kori Rae -- the team behind 2013's "Monsters University."

Set in a suburban fantasy world, the story introduces two teenage elf brothers, Ian and Barley, who embark on an extraordinary quest to discover if there is still a little magic left out there that will bring back their deceased father.

"Onward" is Pixar Animation Studios' 22nd feature film. It is inspired by Scanlon's personal experiences with his brother and their connection with their dad who passed away when Scanlon was about a year old.

"My father has always been a mystery to us. A family member sent us a tape recording of him saying just two words: 'hello' and 'goodbye.' Two words. But to my brother and me, it was magic," said Scanlon in a press briefing.

The film features the voices of Tom Holland as Ian, Chris Pratt as Barley and Julia Louis-Dreyfus as their mother.

"I think what's amazing and what Dan has been able to do on this film is tell a very personal story in a universal way. And that's because he didn't get too attached to all of the specifics of his own story, but just enough that would feed a global universal story," Rae said in an earlier interview with Xinhua, adding that this modern suburban fantasy film is a new genre for Pixar.

"I do think it's a story about your family, where you come from, how your ancestry and your lineage affect who you are and who you're going to become. Yeah. That's deeply ingrained in what this film is," Scanlon said.

"As someone who never knew his father, I am fascinated by the history of my family and what kind of missing blueprint of who I should become or avoid becoming," he said. "I've always been interested in film and wanting to tell stories."

The film received a positive "A-" CinemaScore from audiences and holds an approval rating of 86 percent based on 225 reviews to date on review-aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes.

Universal and Blumhouse's horror film "The Invisible Man" fell to No. 2 in North America with a modest 15.15 million dollars in its second weekend. The film has grossed 52.7 million dollars in North America through Sunday for a global cume of 98.3 million dollars.

The sci-fi horror hit is a contemporary adaptation of the novel of the same name by British writer H. G. Wells and a reboot of The Invisible Man film series. Emmy winner Elisabeth Moss stars in the terrifying modern tale of obsession inspired by Universal's classic monster character. Directed by Leigh Whannell, the film follows a woman who works to prove that she is being hunted by an invisible person after the suicide of her wealthy but abusive scientist boyfriend.

Warner Bros.' sports drama "The Way Back" opened in third place with 8.5 million dollars through Sunday.

Directed by Gavin O'Connor, the film starring Oscar winner Ben Affleck follows an alcoholic construction worker who has recruited to coach the basketball team at his alma mater, healing the deep wounds of his past and setting him on the road to redemption.

Paramount Pictures' action-adventure comedy film "Sonic the Hedgehog" came in fourth in its fourth weekend with 8 million dollars for a North American cume of 140.8 million dollars.

The film, directed by Jeff Fowler, follows the world's fastest hedgehog teaming up with his new best friend Tom Wachowski to defend the planet from the evil Dr. Robotnik.

Twentieth Century's adventure film "The Call of the Wild" finished fifth with 7 million dollars in its third weekend, pushing its North American total to 57.5 million dollars through Sunday.

The film, directed by Chris Sanders and adapted from the Jack London 1903 novel of the same name, vividly brings to the screen the story of Buck, a big-hearted dog whose blissful domestic life is turned upside down when he is suddenly uprooted from his California home and transplanted to the exotic wilds of the Yukon during the Gold Rush of the 1890s.

(CGTN)