LOS ANGELES,  (Reuters) – Ben Stiller beat Christian  Bale in the North American weekend box office duel between  their respective “Night at the Museum” and “Terminator”  sequels, according to studio estimates issued yesterday.

The 20th Century Fox comedy “Night at the Museum: Battle of  the Smithsonian” sold $53.5 million worth of tickets during the  three days beginning Friday, far exceeding the $30.4 million  debut of its 2006 predecessor.

“Terminator Salvation” earned $43.0 million. The film fell  short of the $44 million start for the previous entry in the  cyborg series, 2003’s “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,” the  swan song of franchise star Arnold Schwarzenegger.

But the race between the two new sequels was closer than it  appeared because Warner Bros. got a head start on the U.S.  Memorial Day holiday weekend by opening “Terminator” on  Thursday, when it earned about $13.4 million. That takes the  film’s four-day total to $56.4 million.

The studios generally try to avoid each other when they  roll out their big movies. In this case, “Night at the Museum”  played to a broad audience, while “Terminator” was more  targeted at male moviegoers.

Time Warner Inc-owned Warner Bros. said “Terminator” was  likely more affected by competition for older men from the  National Basketball Association playoffs, which hurt business  in cities like Los Angeles.

Fox, a unit of News Corp, said the “Night at the Museum”  opening set a new live-action record for Stiller. The film also  opened in most international markets, earning $50.5 million.

Last weekend’ North American champion, “Angels & Demons,”  fell to No. 4 with $21.4 million, taking the 10-day total for  Columbia Pictures’ Tom Hanks religious thriller to $81.5  million. By contrast, its 2006 predecessor “The Da Vinci Code”  had earned $136.5 million after the same period.

But the Sony Corp unit has said it never expected the  second film to be as big, and noted it that it was the top  choice internationally with sales of $60.4 million. Its foreign  total now stands at $198.3 million.

Paramount Pictures’ “Star Trek” slipped one place to No. 3  with $22 million, taking its total to $183.5 million after  three weekends. The studio is a unit of Viacom Inc.