Jungle Book holds off Huntsman challenge

Image source, Disney/Universal

Image caption, Neel Sethi plays Mowgli in The Jungle Book while Emily Blunt (right) plays an evil queen in The Huntsman: Winter's War

Disney's new film version of The Jungle Book made more than three times as much as its nearest rival in North American cinemas over the weekend, taking $60.8m (拢42.1m) between Friday and Sunday.

That compared with the $20.1m (拢13.9m) The Huntsman: Winter's War made in the US and Canada over the same period.

Chris Hemsworth, Charlize Theron and Emily Blunt appear in the follow-up to 2012's Snow White and the Huntsman.

Original star Kristen Stewart did not return for the sequel.

This, according to one pundit, partially explains why the film did not open as well as its predecessor, which earned $56.2m (拢38.9m) on its debut and went on to gross $396.6m (拢274.7m) worldwide.

"[Stewart] was a key reason for the opening of that first film," said Paul Dergarabedian of box office analysts comScore. "That was going to be a tough act to follow."

Comedy sequel Barbershop: The Next Cut fell one place to three, with Zootopia - released as Zootropolis in the UK - rising one place to four,

Melissa McCarthy comedy The Boss rounds out this week's top five.