New 'X-Men' tops class at North America box office

The fifth movie in the X-Men series took the No 1 spot at the weekend box office in North America after selling about $56 million worth of tickets, distributor 20th Century Fox said on Sunday.

The opening for X-Men: First Class was in line with the studio's relatively modest expectations but paled against most of the other films in the Marvel comic book franchise. The previous one opened to $85 million two years ago.

Sales data was not immediately available from the film's foreign showings in 75 countries.

X-Men: First Class, which reportedly cost about $160 million to make before tax credits, is a prequel dealing with the formative years of the characters who go on form the X-Men stable of mutant superheroes.

Instead of hiring A-list talent, Fox went with critically acclaimed British director Matthew Vaughn (Kick-Ass) and actors James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender.

McAvoy and Fassbender play the lead roles originated by Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen in 2000's X-Men and two sequels. A 2009 spinoff, X-Men Origins: Wolverine starred Hugh Jackman in the title role.

Jackman has a cameo in the new film.

Critics and fans gave the new film the thumbs up and the solid start at the box office virtually guarantees more X-Men movies down the road.

X-Men: First Class also stars recent Oscar nominee Jennifer Lawrence, Mad Men actress January Jones and Kevin Bacon. Fox is a unit of News Corp. Marvel is a unit of Walt Disney Co.

Last weekend's champion, The Hangover: Part II, slipped to No 2 with $32.4 million, taking its 10-day total to $186.9 million. The raunchy comedy is well ahead of the pace of its 2009 predecessor, which earned $105 million at the same time and ended up with $277 million.

The films were released by Warner Bros, a unit of Time Warner Inc.