'The Martian' back atop N. America box office

‘The Martian’ dethroned spooky children's flick ‘Goosebumps’, thereby regained the top spot on the North American box office charts.

Los Angeles:  ‘The Martian’ regained the top spot on the North American box office charts over the weekend, dethroning spooky children's flick ‘Goosebumps,’ industry estimates showed Sunday.

The critically acclaimed blockbuster starring Matt Damon as an astronaut stranded on Mars -- a film that is already generating serious Oscar buzz -- raked in another $15.9 million, for a total of $166.4 million since its release.

‘Goosebumps,’ a family-friendly action-comedy based on a series of books by R.L. Stine, pulled in $15.5 million, according to box office tracker Exhibitor Relations.

‘Bridge of Spies,’ Steven Spielberg's well-received Cold War spy drama starring Tom Hanks, held onto third place for a second week running with $11.4 million.

Fourth was debut action thriller ‘The Last Witch Hunter’ starring Vin Diesel of ‘Fast & Furious’  fame. It earned a disappointing $10.8 million.

Rounding out the top five was holdover ‘Hotel Transylvania 2’ ($9 million), a sequel starring animated ghouls voiced by an all-star cast. It has so far earned $148.3 million in five weeks of release.

In sixth place was ‘Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension,’ the latest instalment in the popular fright fest series. It only earned $8.2 million in its debut weekend, a lackluster opening.

The following are the rest of the top 10:

7. ‘Steve Jobs’ ($7.3 million)

8. ‘Crimson Peak’ ($5.6 million)

9. ‘The Intern’ ($3.9 million)

10. ‘Sicario’ ($2.95 million)

Final figures are released on Monday.