Brad Pitt’s Ad Astra and Sylvester Stallone’s Rambo: Last Blood were no match for Downton Abbey at the US box office.

The big-screen encore of the upstairs-downstairs TV series opened with an estimated 31 million US dollars (£24.8m) in ticket sales over the weekend.

The Pitt-led father-son space drama Ad Astra debuted with 19.2 million dollars (£15.4m).

LA Special Screening of “Ad Astra”
Space drama Ad Astra, starring Brad Pitt, debuted with 19.2 million dollars (Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Last Blood trailed slightly with 19 million dollars (£15.2m) of its own.

That trio of new releases outperformed a pair of strong holdovers.

After two weeks at the number one spot, It Chapter Two slid to fourth with 17.2 million dollars (13.7m).

The stripper tale Hustlers, starring Jennifer Lopez, earned 17 million dollars (£13.6m) in its second weekend.