Lego's Batman beats Fifty Shades Darker in box office sequel battle

The Lego Batman Movie has spanked Fifty Shades Darker in a battle of the sequels at the US box office.

The Lego Movie follow-up took the top spot with $55.6m (£44.4m), while Fifty Shades Darker attracted $46.8m (£37.4m), according to estimates.

Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan both reprised their Fifty Shades of Grey roles, but the sequel couldn't match its predecessor's $85.2m ($68m) debut.

Based on EL James's erotic fiction, the film has received stinging reviews.

Keanu Reeves hit-man sequel John Wick: Chapter 2 took third place in the US and Canada.

The John Wick follow-up took $30m (£24m) between Friday and Sunday, more than double the original made when it opened in 2014.

The new Lego offering is a computer-generated action comedy that sees Batman try to stop Gotham City being taken over by The Joker.

The film, in which Will Arnett voices the Caped Crusader, was boosted by good reviews and a lack of family-friendly competition.

Rounding out the top five were M Night Shyamalan's psychological thriller Split, whose $9.3m (£7.4m) weekend takings swelled its total US and Canada earnings to $112.3m (£89.7m).

Oscar contender Hidden Figures followed, its Friday to Sunday takings $8m (£6.4m) boosting its total to $131.5m (£105m).

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