Animation record for third Shrek

Shrek the Third has surpassed the $108m (£55m) taken by Shrek 2 in 2004.

It has also knocked Spider-Man 3 off the top of the current North American box office chart.

But it could not match Spider-Man 3's overall first-weekend record, which the super-hero set with takings of $148 (£74m) two weeks ago.

Instead, Shrek becomes the third-biggest opening in US box office history, just behind Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, which took $136m (£69m) last summer.

NORTH AMERICAN BOX OFFICE

• 1. Shrek The Third ($122m)
• 2. Spider-Man 3 ($28.5m)
• 3. 28 Weeks Later ($5.15m, pictured)
• 4. Disturbia ($3.7m)
• 5. Georgia Rule ($3.5m)
• 6. Fracture ($2.4m)
• 7. Delta Farce ($1.8m)
• 8. The Invisible ($1.3m)
• 9. Hot Fuzz ($1.26m)
• 10. Waitress ($1.14m)

But Shrek's position at the top of the charts is likely to end next week, when the third instalment of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End makes its debut.

"I think we could see more records being broken," said Paul Dergarabedian of box office analysts Media By Numbers.

"Both Spider-Man and Shrek exceeded expectations, so who knows with Pirates? The marketplace is just exploding right now," he added.

Elsewhere in this week's charts, zombie thriller 28 Weeks Later dropped to number three, taking $5m (£2.6m), while the final film by murdered actress Adrienne Shelly - Waitress - entered at number 10.

Overall takings were up by 12% from this time last year to $173m (£87.6m).

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