LOS ANGELES (AFP) - The Lego Batman Movie dominated Fifty Shades Darker in a battle of new releases at North American box offices over the weekend, an industry group said Sunday (Feb 12).

The Warner Bros spinoff of the Lego Movie finished on top with US$55.6 million (S$79 million), against US$46.8 million for the second flick in the steamy bondage franchise based on the novels of EL James, said Exhibitor Relations.

Featuring the voice of Will Arnett as the caped crusader, the new Lego offering is a 3D, computer-generated action and comedy film that follows Batman as he tries to save Gotham City from being taken over by Joker, whose voice is that of Zach Galifianakis.

Third place went to John Wick: Chapter 2, debuting with a respectable US$30 million in revenue.

The thriller stars Keanu Reeves as a hitman forced out of retirement, who reluctantly agrees to repay a debt to a fellow hired killer with whom he has signed a blood oath - ending up with a US$7 million bounty on his head. The film also stars Common and Laurence Fishburne.

Split, M Night Shyamalan's thriller about a man with multiple personalities who abducts three teenage girls, dropped from first to fourth place in its fourth week in theaters, with weekend revenue of US$9.3 million for a total of US$112.3 million since coming out.

It was made on a budget of just US$9 million.

In fifth place was Hidden Figures, Fox's true-life story of three black women mathematicians who helped NASA put the first men in space. The comedy-drama, starring Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monae, took in US$8 million in its eighth week, for a cumulative total of US$131.5 million.

Rounding out the Top 10 are: A Dog's Purpose (US$7.4 million) Rings (US$5.8 million) La La Land (US$5 million) Lion (US$4.08 million) The Space Between Us (US$1.76 million).