LOS ANGELES, April 15 (Xinhua) -- New Line Cinema and Warner Bros.' science fiction monster film "Rampage" topped North American box office in its opening weekend with an estimated 34.5 million U.S. dollars, defeating "A Quiet Place" in a close race.

Directed by Brad Peyton, the film stars Dwayne Johnson, Naomie Harris, Malin Akerman, Jake Lacy, Joe Manganiello, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. The plot follows a primatologist named Davis Okoye who must team up with George, an extraordinarily intelligent gorilla who turns into a raging creature of enormous size following a rogue experiment, in order to stop an invasion of monsters.

"Rampage" earned a "A-" from moviegoers on CinemaScore and a 50 rating on Rotten Tomatoes to date.

The film with a reported 120 million dollars budget also brought in an estimated 114.1 million internationally for a global cume of 148.6 million dollars, according to studio figures collected by comScore.

"Dwayne Johnson is a closer," Jeff Goldstein, president of domestic distribution at Warner Bros.' attributed the success to Johnson' s star power.

"He's got an incredible connection with his fanbase. He's a global draw unlike anybody else today," Goldstein was quoted as saying by American entertainment trade magazine Variety.

In a very close second was Paramount's horror film "A Quiet Place" with an estimated 32.6 million dollars in its second weekend.

"The originality of the film and its unique concept continues to draw massive crowds for the critically acclaimed film directed by and starring John Krasinski and featuring a terrific cast including Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds and Noah Jupe," wrote movie analyst Paul Dergarabedian at comScore in an email to Xinhua.

Universal and Blumhouse's supernatural horror film "Truth or Dare" opened in third place with an estimated 19.08 million dollars. Directed by Jeff Wadlow, the films show what can happen when a seemingly harmless game of truth or dare turns deadly for a group of college friends in Mexico.

Fourth place went to Warner Bros.' science fiction film "Ready Player One," which earned an estimated 11.2 million dollars in its third weekend, pushing its North American cume to 114.6 million through Sunday.

Universal's comedy film "Blockers" finished fifth with an estimated 10.29 million dollars in its second weekend.