LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — Mel Gibson’s new action film Flight Risk has topped the North American box office, taking in an estimated US$12 million on a slow winter weekend, industry analysts said Sunday.

The Lionsgate movie stars Mark Wahlberg, Michelle Dockery and Topher Grace in a story about a US marshal transporting a mobster-turned-informant across the Alaskan wilderness. The flight proves bumpy when the pilot is revealed to have an ulterior motive.

“This is a good opening for an original action thriller,” said analyst David A Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research. Though reviews have been “poor”, he said, “business should be good in all parts of the world”.

Disney’s Mufasa: The Lion King slipped to second spot, earning an estimated US$8.7 million. Its domestic take stands at US$221.1 million, and it has sold US$405 million in tickets abroad.

Also dropping one spot, to third, was Sony comedy One of Them Days, at US$8 million. Keke Palmer and singer SZA star in the Issa Rae-produced film, playing roommates scrambling to pay rent or face eviction after a boyfriend squanders their money.

Holding steady at fourth, in its sixth weekend out, was Paramount’s animated Sonic the Hedgehog 3, at US$5.5 million.

And holding in fifth was Disney animation Moana 2. It took in US$4.3 million in its ninth weekend out and should soon become the ninth biggest animated film of all time, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Rounding out the top 10 were Presence (US$3.42 million), Wolf Man (US$3.4 million), A Complete Unknown (US$3.1 million), Den of Thieves 2: Pantera (US$3 million), and The Brutalist (US$2.9 million).