LOS ANGELES — A team of animated Marvel characters rocketed past a group of wormhole-bound astronauts at the weekend box office.

Disney’s animated adventure “Big Hero 6,” featuring the inflatable robot Baymax and his prodigy pal Hiro from the Marvel comic book, debuted in first place with $56.2 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. Paramount’s space saga “Interstellar,” starring Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway as astronauts, took off in second place with $50 million, estimates said.

If the estimates hold up, this weekend will mark the fourth time in box office history that a pair of films both opened with $50 million or above. The previous matchups were “Monsters University” vs. “World War Z” in 2013, “Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted” vs. “Prometheus” in 2012, and “WALL-E” vs. “Wanted” in 2008. In each instance, the animated option came out on top.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Rentrak

1. “Big Hero 6,” $56.2 million.

3. “Interstellar,” $50 million.

3. “Gone Girl,” $6.1 million.

4. “Ouija,” $6 million.

5. “St. Vincent,” $5.7 million.

6. “Nightcrawler,” $5.5 million.

7. “Fury,” $5.5 million.

8. “John Wick,” $4 million.

9. “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day,” $3.5 million.

10. “The Book of Life,” $2.8 million.