“The Nut Job 2: Nutty By Nature,” edged just above “The Dark Tower” and took in $8.9 million at North American theaters over the weekend.

NEW YORK — The “Conjuring” spinoff “Annabelle: Creation” scared up an estimated $35 million in North American theaters over the weekend, making it easily the top film and giving the lagging August box office a shot in the arm.

The opening came close to matching the film’s predecessor, “Annabelle,” which opened with $37.1 million in October 2014. Warner Bros. could celebrate not only the month’s biggest debut but also having the week’s top two films. Christopher Nolan’s “Dunkirk” followed in second with $11.4 million in its fourth weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Last week’s top film, the poorly received Stephen King adaptation “The Dark Tower,” slid dramatically. The Sony Pictures release, starring Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey, toppled nearly 60 percent on its second weekend with an estimated $7.9 million.

The week’s other new entry, the Open Road animated release “Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature,” edged just above “The Dark Tower” with $8.9 million. That was well below the 2014 debut of the original, “The Nut Job,” which opened with $19.4 million.

But the solid returns for “Annabelle: Creation” did little to counter the box-office slide. Ahead of the weekend, the domestic box office was 11 percent off the pace of 2016’s summer. This weekend was also down considerably from the same time frame last year, when “Suicide Squad” was leading the box office despite brutal reviews.

Some of July’s bright spots, however, have continued into August. The summer’s top comedy, “Girls Trip,” will soon surpass $100 million domestically.