"Fantastic Four" was number one at the box office in North America over the weekend, knocking " War of the Worlds" from the top spot after a one-week reign and helping stop the longest box office slump in two decades, final weekend figures said Monday.

The super-hero flick based on the Marvel Comics characters grossed 56 million dollars in the United States and Canada in its weekend debut, according to the box office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc.

"War of the Worlds" -- directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Cruise -- slipped to second place with a take of 30.4 million dollars, a 54 percent drop from last week. Its domestic gross in two weeks stands at 164.9 million dollars.

It seems that Paramount Pictures, which releases the film, would be disappointed with the drop, which certainly makes reaching its 200-million-dollar target for domestic box office a difficult task.

"Batman Begins" (10 million dollars) was third, followed by the debut of "Dark Water" (9.9 million) and "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" (7.8 million)

Fueled by the earnings of "Fantastic Four" and "War of the Worlds," the dozen top-grossing films in North American earned a combined 139.5 million dollars over the weekend, up 1.21 percent from the 137.8 million dollars generated by the top 12 films a year earlier. The upturn follows a 19-week box office slump, the longest slipping streak since 1985.

Source: Xinhua