Sawt Falasteen - Black comedy from award-winning 'Parasite' director tops N.America box office

But Warner Bros. and Plan B are not celebrating yet -- given the film's production cost of a reported $118 million.

The film -- the director's first since his "Parasite" became the first foreign language film to win a best-picture Oscar -- had been eagerly awaited.

Robert Pattinson plays Mickey, who volunteers for hazardous space missions and, when killed, is repeatedly "reprinted" to be sent out again. Steven Yeun, Toni Collette and Mark Ruffalo also star.

Marvel and Disney's "Captain America: Brave New World" slipped one spot to second, earning $8.5 million for the Friday-through-Sunday period. In four weeks, the superhero flick has taken in $176.6 million domestically and an additional $194 million abroad.

Focus Features' "Last Breath" earned $4.2 million for third place. Woody Harrelson, Simu Liu and Finn Cole play a team of deep-sea divers racing to save a stranded teammate.

In fourth was Neon Studio's comedy-horror film "The Monkey," based on a Stephen King story, at $3.9 million. Theo James, Rohan Campbell and Elijah Wood star in the tale of a toy monkey with a homicidal gleam in its eye.

And in fifth was Sony and Columbia's "Paddington in Peru," about the lovable red-hatted teddy bear, at $3.85 million.

It was a notably slow theatrical weekend, coming just a week after Oscar-winning director Sean Baker ("Anora") made an impassioned plea at the Academy Awards ceremony for people to support the big-screen experience.

But analyst Paul Dergarabedian of Comscore said things will get better.

"That is the rollercoaster that is the box office," he said. "It will come back."

Rounding out the top 10 were:

"Dog Man" ($3.5 million)

"Anora" ($1.9 million)

"Mufasa: The Lion King" ($1.7 million)

"Rule Breakers" ($1.6 million)

"In the Lost Lands" ($1 million)

I.Matar--SF-PST