LOS ANGELES — A 355-foot-tall lizard is poised to crush box-office rivals this weekend as Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures’ “Godzilla” arrives in theaters.

The $160 million film could gross about $70 million in the United States and Canada through Sunday, according to people who have seen pre-release audience surveys. That would mark a strong start for a potential franchise.

The PG-13-rated “Godzilla” should easily take the No. 1 spot on the domestic box-office charts, replacing the R-rated Seth Rogen and Zac Efron comedy “Neighbors,” which opened with a three-day total of $49 million last weekend and has cruised past $60 million so far.

As for more family-friendly fare, Walt Disney Pictures’ PG-rated sports underdog drama “Million Dollar Arm” is expected to gross about $10 million in its U.S. launch, more of a double than a home run for the movie that cost $25 million to make.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen and Bryan Cranston star in “Godzilla,” the big-screen return of the rampaging radioactive reptile introduced in Ishiro Honda’s 1954 Japanese classic. “Godzilla” is the second directing effort for Gareth Edwards, whose 2010 film “Monsters” cost just $500,000 to produce.

The feature should top director Roland Emmerich’s poorly reviewed 1998 take on “Godzilla.” That version opened to $44 million in ticket sales in its first three days in U.S. release and went on to swallow up $379 million worldwide.

“Godzilla” could also come close to the $72 million opening for the 1997 dinosaur sequel “The Lost World: Jurassic Park,” which holds the record for the biggest creature-feature opening weekend, not adjusting for inflation.

This year’s “Godzilla” could benefit from generally positive reviews, having notched a score of roughly 80 percent “fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes as of Thursday. It will face heavy competition when 20th Century Fox’s “X-Men: Days of Future Past” hits cinemas May 23.