Apes swing to the top

Planet of the Apes is a remake of the 1968 classic

Planet of the Apes has clambered up the US film charts in its first week of release, breaking America's record as its biggest non-holiday opener with $69.9m (£49.1).

The remake of the 1968 classic features Mark Wahlberg, Tim Roth and Helena Bonham Carter, was directed by Tim Burton, famed for Edward Scissorhands and Batman Returns.

US box office chart

1. Planet of the Apes

2. Jurassic Park III

3. America's Sweethearts

4. Legally Blonde

5. The Score

Wahlberg plays a US Air Force astronaut who crash lands on a futuristic world where apes have the upper hand over humans. Bonham-Carter and Roth had to spend hours in make-up to play Wahlberg's simian co-stars.

The previous record for a non-holiday opener was $68.1m (£47.8m)set last May by The Mummy Returns.

Last week's box-office winner, dinosaur epic Jurassic Park III, was pushed down to second place with $22.5m (£15.8m), followed by romantic comedy America's Sweethearts, starring Julia Roberts and Catherine Zeta Jones $15.7m (£11m).

Bruce Snyder, Twentieth Century Fox's distribution president, said Planet's $25m (£17.5m) takings on Friday were the third- best for a single day.

It was beaten only by the $28m (£19.6m) opening by Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace in 1999, and Jurassic Park sequel The Lost World's $26m (£18.2m) in 1997.

Jurassic Park III: Down to second place

Burton's film also set a new personal record for the director, beating the $46m (£32.3m) for the opening of Batman Returns in 1992.

And in Japan, it raked in $5.5m (£3.5m), plus $600,000 (£391,718) in Hong Kong and $580,000 (£378,652) in Thailand.

Reese Witherspoon comedy Legally Blonde ranked $2m below America's Sweethearts with $9m (£6.3m), while the Robert De Niro heist thriller Score, came fifth with $7.1m (£4.9m)