Ant-Man punches above his weight in debut weekend

Los Angeles - Marvel action flick Ant-Man proved less can be more as it topped the North American box office tally in its debut over the weekend, industry figures showed Sunday.

The movie - about a thief-turned-hero who wears special armor that makes him tiny but super strong as he undertakes a mission to save the world - posted sales of $58m, said box office tracker Exhibitor Relations.

It unseated the animated comedy Minions, a prequel to the Despicable Me movies featuring three tiny mischievous creatures. This one came in second with $50.2m, after racking up $115.7m last weekend in its debut.

Another movie making its debut - Trainwreck with comic Amy Schumer - came in third with $30.2m in sales. It is about a woman who is wary of steady romantic relationships but falls for a sports doctor.

In fourth place was the animated flick Inside Out, at $11.7m.

It features the voice of comedian Amy Poehler and follows young Riley as her emotions of joy, fear, anger, disgust and sadness battle it out internally as she copes with a move to a new city.

Jurassic World dropped from second to fifth place, taking in another $11.4m, bringing the dinosaur movie's overall total to a huge $611.1m.

Taking the sixth spot was action-packed sci-fi fantasy Terminator Genisys, which brought in $5.4m in its third weekend.

In seventh position was Magic Mike XXL, a dance-themed drama about a former stripper, starring Channing Tatum. It pulled in $4.5m in theaters over the weekend.

Dropping to eighth place after debuting at number five was Hollywood producer Jason Blum's latest spine-tingler, The Gallows, which took in $4m.

The movie, which recalls 1999's The Blair Witch Project for its hand-held camera technique, gives young actors Reese Mishler, Pfeifer Brown, Ryan Shoos and Cassidy Gifford their first substantial roles.

Ted 2, the raunchy sequel to Seth MacFarlane's comedy about a foul-mouthed teddy bear grabbed ninth place, bringing in $2.7m.

Rounding out the top 10 was Bajrangi Bhaijaan at $2.5m.

It is about a speech-impaired girl from Pakistan who gets lost in India and gets help from a kind-hearted man to find her way home to her family.