AceShowbiz - "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" has scared off its U.S. box office competition with a $44 million (£33 million) opening, toppling Marvel's "Eternals" for the top spot.

The long awaited sequel, which stars Paul Rudd, Mckenna Grace, and "Stranger Things" ' Finn Wolfhard, was directed by Jason Reitman, son of Ivan Reitman, who directed the first two hit "Ghostbusters" films in the 1980s.

Its opening take is slightly less than Paul Feig's 2016 "Ghostbusters" reboot, starring Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy, which racked up $46 million (£34 million) on its debut weekend.

"Eternals" fell to second place with $10.8 million (£8 million) and family film "Clifford the Big Red Dog" placed third with $8.1 million (£6 million).

"King Richard", which stars Will Smith as the father of tennis aces Venus and Serena Williams, hit $5.7 million (£4.2 million) in its first three days of release. The film opened in cinemas but is also airing on streaming site HBO Max.

Sci-fi epic "Dune" notched up fifth place, scoring $3 million (£2.2 million) in its fifth weekend in cinemas. It's also streaming on HBO Max.

1. "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" - $44 million
2. "Eternals" - $10.8 million
3. "Clifford the Big Red Dog" - $8.1 million
4. "King Richard" - $5.7 million
5. "Dune" - $3 million
6. "Venom: Let There Be Carnage" - $2.8 million
7. "No Time to Die" - $2.7 million
8. "The French Dispatch" - $970,00
9. "Belfast" - $940,000
10. "Ron's Gone Wrong" - $888,000