20 June 2011 Last updated at 08:15 ET

Green Lantern tops US box office

The film stars Ryan Reynolds as a test pilot who gains superpowers

Costly superhero movie Green Lantern has opened in the US and Canada with weekend takings of $52.7m (£32.6m), according to studio estimates.

The film, which reportedly cost $200m (£123.7m) to make and has a marketing budget of $125m (£77.3m), is the latest to be based on a comic book creation.

It comes in the wake of Thor, which opened with $65m (£40.2m), and the latest X-Men film with $55m (£34m).

The movie stars Ryan Reynolds as reluctant superhero Hal Jordan.

Green Lantern knocked Super 8 off the top spot, which took $21.3m (£13.2m).

Family comedy Mr Popper's Penguins opened in third with $18.2m (£11.3m).

It stars Jim Carrey as a father who learns the importance of family life when he inherits half a dozen of the flightless birds.

X-Men: First Class was in fourth, with $11.5m (£7.1m), while The Hangover Part II was fifth with $9.6m (£6m).

The Hangover sequel has now taken $488m (£301.8m) worldwide, surpassing the performance of the original 2009 film which took $468m (£289.5).