"Godzilla: King of the Monsters" was king of of the box office this weekend, but debuted below expectations. It brought in $49 million, a discouraging start given its $200 million budget.

That's well behind franchise predecessors, 2014’s "Godzilla" (which debuted with $93 million) and 2017’s "Kong: Skull Island" (which took in $61 million its first weekend). Perhaps next year's "Godzilla vs. Kong," which pits the two legendary creatures against each other, will do better.

"King of the Monsters" did much better overseas, with $130 million at the international box office for a global opening weekend of $179 million.

Godzilla fans who liked their monster action as big as possible accounted for $8.1 million of domestic ticket sales via IMAX screens. Audiences gave it a "B+" CinemaScore.

Meanwhile, the well-reviewed Elton John biopic "Rocketman" landed in third place with a  $25 million debut. Taron Egerton stars as the Grammy- and Oscar-winning singer in the film, which had a modest $40 million budget.

That's about half of the $51 million "Bohemian Rhapsody" took in during its opening weekend last year,  but the Queen biopic was rated a more audience-friendly PG-13, while "Rocketman" is rated R.

It currently has a 90% critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes and an "A-" CinemaScore.

The horror film "Ma," which stars Octavia Spencer as a middle-aged woman who befriends -- and then terrorizes -- the local teens, debuted in fourth place with $18.2 million. The film, which reunites Spencer with "The Help" director Tate Taylor, is Spencer's first leading role.

Audiences gave it a "B-" CinemaScore, which is one notch about the "C+" they gave last week's horror debut, "Brightburn,."

Meanwhile, last week's No. 1 film, "Aladdin," dropped to the No. 2 spot, adding another $42.3 million during its second weekend. It's now earned $185 million in North America and $260.9 million overseas.

Here are the top 10 estimates for May 31 - June 2, 2019

1 . "Godzilla: King of the Monsters," $49,025,000
2. "Aladdin" (2019), $42,335,000
3. "Rocketman," $25,000,000
4. "Ma" (2019), $18,260,000
5. "John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum,"  $11,100,000
6. "Avengers: Endgame," $7,813,000
7. "Pokemon Detective Pikachu," $6,665,000
8. "Booksmart," $3,328,648
9. "Brightburn," $2,315,000
10. "The Hustle," $1,300,000

[Via Variety]