"The Da Vinci Code" opened at the top of the North American box office this weekend with estimated 77 million dollars, living up to expectations for the most hyped movie opening of the year.

Meanwhile, the controversial adaptation of Dan Brown's best- selling novel brought in some 147 million dollars overseas, making the film Hollywood's biggest international opening ever, said distributor Columbia Pictures on Sunday.

The previous record was last year's "Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith" with 145 million dollars.

The film, upsetting many Christians with a fictional premise that Jesus Christ has a child with Mary Magdalene, marks the greatest commercial success for actor Tom Hanks and director Ron Howard.

It seems that poor reviews about the film after its premiere in Cannes, France last week did not keep the audience away. Over 40 million copies of the novel has been sold so far worldwide.

In second place on the box-office charts was "Over The Hedge," an animated feature about a wily racoon, which brought in about 37. 3 million dollars in its opening weekend, according to the Los Angeles-based box office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc.

"Mission: Impossible III," which brought in about 11 million dollars, was in the third and "Poseidon," a remake of the 1972 shipwreck movie "The Poseidon Adventure," ranked fourth with 9.2 million.

In fifth place was family comedy "RV," which brought in 5.1 million dollars.

The top 12 grossing films this weekend brought in estimated 153. 2 million dollars, down 2.8 percent from the same weekend last year, but up 80 percent over the last weekend.

Source: Xinhua