LOS ANGELES, March 12 (Variety.com) - "Kong: Skull Island" emerged victorious after a battle of the beasts that pitted the giant ape movie against Wolverine's last stand. Cresting a wave of good reviews, "Kong" topped the domestic box office, racking up a mighty $61 million. That handily beat estimates, which had "Kong: Skull Island" debuting to between $45 million to $50 million.

King Kong's roar didn't totally drown out Wolverine's berserker rage. In its second weekend, Fox's "Logan" dropped 58% to $37.8 million, pushing its stateside total to $152.6 million. The R-rated comic book adventure is Hugh Jackman's swan song as Wolverine after nearly two decades playing the X-Men team member.

Legendary and Warner Bros. have grand ambitions for King Kong. The film is the second installment in a planned monster franchise. The first chapter, 2014's "Godzilla," opened to $93.2 million in the states before topping out at $529.1 million globally. The plan is for King Kong and Godzilla to meet in an epic showdown of primordial creatures in 2020.

"The movie is pure fun and that's translating into the box office," said Jeff Goldstein, domestic distribution chief at Warner Bros. He went on to predict that the film would benefit from rolling spring breaks that will see more than 20 percent of the nation's schoolchildren on vacation and looking for something to occupy their time. The opening weekend crowd for the film was 56% male and 35% under the age of 25. Imax showings accounted for $7.5 million worth of ticket sales.

With Wolvie and Kong duking it out for the top slot, Blumhouse and Universal's "Get Out" snagged third place. The low-budget thriller about a black man whose visit to his white girlfriend's hometown takes a sinister turn, picked up $21.1 million. It has earned $111 million in three weeks of release -- a fantastic return on its $4.5 million budget.

The top five was rounded out by Lionsgate's "The Shack" and Warner Bros.' "The LEGO Batman Movie," which earned $10.1 million and $7.8 million, respectively. "The Shack," a faith-based drama, has grossed $32.3 million in two weeks of release. The latest LEGO movie has earned $159 million after five weeks in theaters.

Among limited releases, CBS Films' "The Sense of an Ending," an adaptation of Julian Barnes's prize-winning novel, opened to $42,000 from four locations, while Focus World's "Raw," a horror film about a vegetarian student who turns to cannibalism, debuted to $25,230 from two theaters.

Ticket sales were up nearly 25% from the same weekend in 2016 -- a period that overlapped with the second weekend of "Zootopia" and the debut of "10 Cloverfield Lane." Revenues are up roughly 2% year-to-date, as the combination of "Logan," "Get Out" and now "Kong: Skull Island" are translating into a busy time at the box office. Next weekend brings the release of "Beast," which should expand 2017's lead.

"This could be the biggest March on record," said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at ComScore. "You don't have to wait until May to release blockbusters any more."