LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Marvel's Guardians Of The Galaxy, the critically acclaimed science-fiction superhero romp, skyrocketed to the top spot at the North American box office over the weekend, estimates showed Sunday.

The movie added another US$17.6 million (S$22 million) to its four-week haul which now totals US$251.9 million, box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations reported.

The famous, pizza-munching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, meanwhile, were edged out of their top spot, taking home US$16.8 million and slipping to second in their third weekend in theatres.

Teen melodrama If I Stay, based on a young adult novel about a girl who surveys her life from an out-of-body experience after a car accident, debuted in third place with US$16.4 million.

Fourth spot was taken by raunchy adult comedy Let's Be Cops, starring Damon Wayans Jr, about two friends who become entangled in criminal intrigue when they dress up as police officers for a costume party.

It took in US$11 million in its second weekend, despite being savaged by overwhelmingly negative reviews.

When The Game Stands Tall, based on the true story of a US high school coach who leads his team on a 151-game winning streak, debuted in fifth place with US$9 million.

In sixth place was dystopian drama The Giver based on Lois Lowry's 1993 novel of the same name. The film, starring Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep and Brenton Thwaites, earned US$6.7 million.

The veteran action heroes of Sylvester Stallone's geriatric The Expendables 3 took in US$6.6 million in their second week in theatres, landing in seventh.

Crime-thriller sequel Sin City: A Dame to Kill For featuring Mickey Rourke, Eva Green, Jessica Alba, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis, debuted in eighth place with US$6.5 million.

And The Hundred Foot Journey, a romantic comedy with Helen Mirren and Om Puri as culture-clashing restaurateurs raked in US$5.6 million, landing in ninth.

Rounding out the top 10 with US$3.8 million was weather disaster movie Into The Storm.