Los Angeles - Denzel Washington fought his way to the top of the North American box office in action-thriller The Equalizer, which earned $34.1m in its debut weekend, industry data showed on Monday.
The film knocked science-fiction Fox production The Maze Runner to second place. Based on James Dashner's best-selling 2007 young adult dystopian novel of the same name, the film raked in $17.4m in its second weekend in theaters.
Meanwhile The Boxtrolls, an animated film about an orphaned boy raised underground by friendly monsters, debuted in third place with $17.3m, according to box office tracker Exhibitor Relations.
Comedy-drama This Is Where I Leave You, landed in fourth in its second week out, taking in $6.9m.
In fifth place for a second week was Dolphin Tale 2, a family-friendly sequel starring Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd, which earned $4.8m.
Thriller No Good Deed, about a devoted wife and mother who helps out a charming but dangerous escaped convict played by Idris Elba, slipped to sixth place with $4.5m.
In seventh place was the Liam Neeson crime drama A Walk Among the Tombstones, which took in $4.2m.
The movie, based on US crime writer Lawrence Block's book of the same name, features Taken star Neeson as a former New York detective who is hired by a drug dealer to track down his wife's murderer.
In eighth was the summer season's most successful blockbuster, Guardians of the Galaxy, which added another $3.8m to its nine-week haul, which now stands at $319m in North America.
Screwball comedy Let's Be Cops was ninth with $1.5m, just ahead of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which earned $1.45m.