Monsters University stays top of US box office

Let’s dance: 'Monsters University'

Family film Monsters University topped the US and Canadian movie charts for a second straight weekend, fending off competition from two new releases, the female buddy comedy The Heat and the explosion-filled thriller White House Down.

Monsters University from Walt Disney Co's Pixar animation studio sold $46.2 million worth of tickets at domestic theaters from Friday through Sunday, according to studio estimates. The movie is a prequel to the 2001 hit Monsters Inc.

The Heat, headlined by Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock, landed in second place, grabbing $40 million. Bullock plays an uptight FBI agent paired with a loud and aggressive cop (McCarthy) to bring down a drug lord.

World War Z, the zombie thriller starring Brad Pitt as a former UN crisis specialist fighting the undead, slipped one notch to finish third in its second week of release, earning $29.8 million during the weekend domestically.

The action movie White House Down, the story of a terrorist attack in the US capital, finished in the No. 4 slot with $25.7 million. The movie from Independence Day director Roland Emmerich stars Channing Tatum, Jamie Foxx and Maggie Gyllenhaal.

Sony Corp's movie studio released White House Down. Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc, distributed World War Z. The Heat was distributed by the 20th Century Fox studio, a unit of 21st Century Fox, part of the company formerly known as News Corp.

Reuters