To the surprise of some, Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk has made a whopping $50.5 million at the US box office in its opening weekend as it defied more conservative estimates and outperformed its nearest rival by $20 Million.

The Wrap had reported that the film was only projected to make between $30-40 Million but it actually ended up enjoying a better opening weekend than the director's last film, the sci-fi space exploring Interstellar ($49.5 Million).

Dunkirk's haul in the US is all the more admirable considering that it's based on an evacuation that not many Americans might have been aware of. Secondly , its about a effort that only involves the British and French forces so there's not much of a patriotic angle for those seeing from across the Atlantic.

In the second position there's the buddy comedy Girls Night, which earned $30 million, while Luc Besson's hugely expensive and expansive Valerian and a City of a Thousand Planets under-performed at fifth place, raking in $17 Million on a $200 million dollar budget.

Watch the trailer for Dunkirk below: