“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” starring Harrison Ford in the role of the archaeologist he first made famous more than 40 years ago, earned about US$60 million, according to Exhibitor Relations.

With that, Indy booted animated sequel “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” from the top spot, but analysts said it was a weak start for the fifth Indiana Jones movie.

“Audience ratings are good, while critics reviews are lukewarm,” said David A Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research.

Gross noted the Disney film is believed to have cost a whopping US$295 million to make before marketing, but added that it was likely to make up ground overseas, where it opened with US$70 million in sales.

“Across the Spider-Verse,” the second instalment in Sony’s inventive animated take on the web-slinging superhero, brought in US$11.5 million for second place, bringing its domestic total to nearly US$340 million.

Pixar’s animated immigrant fable “Elemental,” which was bumped from second to third place, raked in US$11.3 million.

Also from Sony, “No Hard Feelings” – a throwback to the once-ubiquitous raunchy comedy genre, starring Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence – brought in US$7.5 million for fourth place.

“Transformers: Rise of the Beasts,” one of the many spin-offs and sequels dominating theatres this summer, brought in US$7 million for fifth place.

“Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken” debuted this weekend in sixth place, bringing in what Gross called a “weak” US$5.2 million.

The animated offering from Universal’s Dreamworks follows a shy teenager who discovers she is a descendant of the titular mythic sea creatures.

Rounding out the top 10 were:

• “The Little Mermaid” (US$5.15 million)
• “The Flash” (US$5 million)
• “Asteroid City” (US$3.8 million)
• “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” (US$1.8 million)