You can call and count on the Ghostbusters to scare up big box office numbers. In Ghostbusters: Afterlife, which topped the domestic charts, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver and Annie Potts prove there is vital life left in the franchise.

Jason Reitman’s turn to direct the series began by his father, Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II), drew a robust $44 million. The new cast members, led by Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon and Finn Wolfhard, also boosted the appeal of Ghostbusters: Afterlife to the younger generation of moviegoers.

As a result of the better-than-expected debut of the fourth Ghostbusters movie, Eternals fell to the number two slot. The 26^th Marvel Cinematic Universe movie pocketed $10.8 million which was a huge 60 percent drop from the second weekend.

Clifford the Big Red Dog lapped up $8.1 million to rank third for a total of $33.51 million so far.

King Richard, a biographical drama about how Richard Williams (Will Smith) raised and coached his daughters Venus (Saniyya Sidney) and Serena (Demi Singleton) to become the tennis champions that they are today, could only muster a fourth-place finish on its bow.

Directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green, the film also starring Aunjanue Ellis, Mikayla Lashae Bartholomew, Daniele Lawson, Layla Crawford and Jon Bernthal, earned a dismal $5.7 million. Box office analysts commented that King Richard’s availability on HBO Max cut into the drama’s theatrical earnings.

Dune still managed to be in the magic five with $3.07 million. With its cumulative earnings of $98.19 million so far in the United States and Canada, Timothée Chalamet’s sci-fi epic is expected to cross the $100 million domestic benchmark next week.

Rounding out the rest of the top ten were, in order: Venom: Let There Be Carnage ($2.8 million), No Time to Die ($2.71 million), The French Dispatch ($970,000), Belfast ($940,000) and Ron’s Gone Wrong ($900,000).

In the international box office action, Angelina Jolie and her band of immortals in Eternals reigned with $22.7 million collected from more than 40 markets. Those recent revenues bolstered the Disney/Marvel flick’s global ticket sales to $336.1 million.

Overseas moviegoers also heeded the call of the Ghostbusters to make the latest installment of the franchise come to life with $16 million. Ghostbusters: Afterlife looks poised to have legs in the world box office race.

As predicted, Daniel Craig’s No Time to Die is now the biggest Hollywood hit release internationally and in the COVID-19 health crisis era. Daniel is bidding bye to the 007 series with a bang – the recent $13.41 million haul from more than 70 offshore territories beefed up the film’s international and global grosses to $579.4 million and $733.99 million, respectively.

But in China, No Time to Die ranked third only, behind homegrown blockbuster hits, The Battle of Lake Changjin (a staggering $885 million and still rising) and Hi, Mom ($848 million).

Next weekend, as more children in the 5 to 11 age bracket become eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccines and the Thanksgiving holiday break allows more people to troop to the cineplexes, family friendly fare like Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Clifford the Big Red Dog and Ron’s Gone Wrong may get a boost in the North American box office.