LOS ANGELES/NEW YORK (REUTERS) - Brad Pitt's gritty World War II drama Fury conquered all box office foes over the weekend, ringing up US$23.5 million (S$30 million) in ticket sales at theatres in the United States and Canada.

Fury kicked two-time box office leader Gone Girl into second place, with the thriller, which stars Ben Affleck, collecting US$17.8 million from Friday through Sunday, according to data from tracking firm Rentrak.

Animated movie The Book of Life earned the No. 3 spot, with a debut of US$17 million.

In Fury, Pitt plays a hardened war veteran who leads men overcome by fatigue and travelling by tank in Nazi Germany during the final months of World War II. Actors Shia LaBeouf, Jon Bernthal, Michael Pena and Logan Lerman also star in the film.

Gone Girl, the big-screen adaptation of a best-selling book, features Affleck as a writer who becomes a suspect when his wife disappears.

The Book of Life draws on Mexican art and wooden puppets to animate a colourful love story rooted in the Mexican Day of the Dead festivities. It follows childhood friends Manolo (Diego Luna), Joaquin (Channing Tatum) and Maria (Zoe Saldana).