‘Spectre’ fends off ‘Peanuts,’ ‘Coopers’ for No. 1

“Spectre” stars Daniel Craig in what is rumored to be his last appearance as Bond after four previous films.

James Bond’s ticket sales dropped 50 percent from last weekend, but the latest 007 flick still was the most-popular movie in North America today.

Spectre’s second weekend take of $35.4 million (£22 million) was too much for Charlie Brown’s latest saga in The Peanuts Movie, which comes in second place with a $24.2 million (£15 million) haul.

Daniel Craig’s fourth outing as Bond, James Bond, is again directed by Sam Mendes of the terrific Skyfall, and yet this follow-up doesn’t have the same unexpected dramatic power, no matter how many vehicle chases, exploding buildings, death-defying (or maybe not) stunts and handsome women are offered as compensation. “Beyond the Sea”, which was written, directed and starred Jolie Pitt, brought in $95,444 across 10 theaters for Comcast Corp.’s CMCSA, -2.05% Universal Pictures. With a reported budget of $250 million, and a global marketing budget that may match, “Spectre” has proven to be a worldwide phenomenon.

In this photo provided by Twentieth Century Fox & Peanuts Worldwide LLC, before their next big airborne adventure, Snoopy and Woodstock have a quiet moment in the new film, “The Peanuts Movie”. In its two weeks in theaters “Spectre” has grossed $130.7 domestically.

Overall weekend box office receipts were down 20% compared with the same weekend a year ago, which was led by the $36.1 debut of “Dumb and Dumber Too”. Indian romantic drama Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, which loosely adapts The Prince And The Pauper, scored a solid win for itself, making a rare Bollywood entry into the United States top 10 at eighth, taking home $2.4 million from just 286 screens.

Perhaps the more interesting news this weekend, will be what Warner Bros execs will be drinking to drown their sorrows on Monday, when they go over the results for “The 33”.

The family Christmas film, “Love the Coopers”, came in third, while “The Martian”, “Bridge of Spies” and “Goosebumps” held fairly steady. Its two-week total was $82.5 million. Its cume has hit $1.8 million. For comparison, “Spotlight”, Tom McCarthy’s drama about the Boston Globe’s 2003 Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation of priest sexual abuse, averaged $60,455 on five screens in its debut last week. With $1.5 million for the weekend, Hunter was able to bring its total to $26 million.