Dumb and Dumber To tops US box office with $38 million

Dumb and Dumber To has topped the US box office chart on its first weekend in cinemas.

The intentionally misspelt sequel to Jim Carrey’s 1994 comedy made an estimated $38.1 million over the weekend.

The film, which sees Jim Carrey’s Lloyd Christmas reunited with Jeff Daniels’ Harry Dunne, edged out Disney animation Big Hero 6, which made $36 million in its second weekend in the US and Canada.

Space exploration epic Interstellar fell one place to three.

Directed by film-making siblings Peter and Bobby Farrelly, Dumb and Dumber To arrived in cinemas almost 20 years on from its hit predecessor.

Neither Jim Carrey nor Jeff Daniels appeared in a prequel, Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd that was released in 2003 without Farrelly brothers’ involvement.

The sequel, which took years to get off the ground, helped Jim Carrey achieve his most successful debut in a live-action film since that year’s Bruce Almighty.

Big Hero 6‘s performance has helped Disney surpass $4 billion in global sales for only the second year in its history.

The milestone was reached thanks to the success of such titles as Frozen, Maleficent, Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain America: Winter Soldier.

Interstellar, about astronauts seeking a new planet for mankind to inhabit, made an estimated $29.2 million in the US and Canada on its third weekend on release.

An ongoing international roll-out saw Christopher Nolan’s film make an additional $106 million outside those territories, thanks in part to a strong opening in China.

Romantic drama Beyond the Lights made a modest debut in this week’s US and Canada chart, opening at four with weekend takings of $6.5 million.

Beyond the Lights, about a troubled R&B singer who finds solace in a policeman on her security detail, stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw, seen earlier this year in Belle.

Thriller Gone Girl, starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike, completes this week’s top five.