'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice' scares off 'Transformers' for third week as box office No. 1

Tim Burton's legacy sequel to the 1988 horror comedy topped the North American box office charts for a third

It’s a three-peat for “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.”

The Tim Burton legacy sequel to his 1988 horror comedy topped the North American box office charts for the third straight weekend with US$26 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.

It edged out the animated new release “Transformers: One,” which brought in US$25 million. The Optimus Prime origin story from Paramount Pictures features the voices of Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry and Scarlett Johansson.

“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” a Warner Bros. release with Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder returning as stars, has earned more than US$226 million domestically in its three weeks after a monster opening of $110 million — the third best of the year — and a second weekend of US$51.6 million.

Third place went to the James McAvoy horror “Speak No Evil,” which came in at US$5.9 million in its second week for a total of US$21.5 million.

On the whole, the box office was in a quiet phase that is expected to break when “ Joker: Folie à Deux ” dances its way onto the big screen on Oct. 4.

The year’s second-highest grosser “ Deadpool & Wolverine ” remained in the top 5 in its ninth weekend with another US$3.9 million and a domestic total of US$627 million. Only Pixar's “Inside Out 2” has earned more.