It's business as usual at the movies

North American audiences are not staying away from theaters amid virus concerns, according to the weekend's box office numbers. Disney and Pixar's "Onward" topped the charts as expected and the Ben Affleck basketball drama "The Way Back" also opened normally.

"Onward" earned $40 million from 4,310 North American locations, according to studio estimates Sunday. It's on the lower end of openings for the studio, more in line with "The Good Dinosaur" launch in 2015. "Onward" is an original story about two teenage elf brothers voiced by Chris Pratt and Tom Holland who get a chance to spend one last day with their late father.

Disney expects it to continue performing well with spring breaks starting for many students and families next week.

The weekend was down some 50% from the same weekend last year, but that's because that's when "Captain Marvel" opened to over $153 million, and not a sign of virus fears, said comScore senior analyst Paul Dergarabedian.

Virus concerns did cause cancellation of the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, and delayed release of the new James Bond film "No Time to Die" from April to November.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday:

1. "Onward," $40 million.

3. "The Way Back," $8.5 million.

4. "Sonic the Hedgehog," $8 million.

5. "The Call of the Wild," $7 million.

6. "Emma," $5 million.

7. "Bad Boys For Life," $3.1 million.

9. "Impractical Jokers: The Movie," $1.8 million.

10. "My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising," $1.5 million.