Denzel Washington tops US box office in The Equalizer

Washington has won two Oscars for Training Day and Glory

Denzel Washington's latest film The Equalizer has debuted at the top of the North American box office, taking $35m (£21.5m), according to early estimates.

It marked a strong opening for the film, in which Washington plays a former commando who finds himself in a battle with the Russian mafia.

The film has reunited Washington with director Antoine Fuqua, who also directed 2001's Training Day.

The movie is based on the 1980s TV series, starring Edward Woodward.

Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for box-office tracker Rentrak, called Washington "the very model of box-office consistency."

"I can't think of another star that's this consistent, that remains this rock solid over the course of three decades," he added.

Last week's top film, The Maze Runner, slid to second with $17.5m (£10.7m).

The animated movie The Boxtrolls opened in third, just behind The Maze Runner with $17.3m (£10.6m).

It has marked the US animation studio Laika's best opening yet - its previous films include the Oscar-nominated Coraline and Paranorman.

The Boxtrolls was made using stop-motion technology, where each scene is set up with puppets placed on miniature sets. The 3D film features the voices of Sir Ben Kingsley and Elle Fanning.

The comedy This is Where I Leave You took $7m (£4.3m), putting it into fourth place with Dolphin Tale 2 rounding out the top five.