Reports of the demise of James Bond have been greatly exaggerated of late and the superspy struck back over the weekend as MGM's Die Another Day opened top of the table with a record-breaking $47m haul, according to studio estimates.

The 20th Bond may have divided the critics but there was no denying its box office sparkle as it registered the highest ever opening for a Bond film, beating $35.5m set by The World Is Not Enough in 1999. It was also the second biggest release for distributor MGM behind last year's $58 bow for Hannibal.

Directed by New Zealander Lee Tamahori, whose credits include Once Were Warriors and Along Came A Spider, Pierce Brosnan is back as 007 and this time finds himself on the trail of a renegade North Korean general. Halle Berry adds class as the American agent Jinx and has said she will reprise her role following MGM's plans to spin the character off into a franchise of her own, the first time this will have happened to a secondary character from the Bond series. The picture averaged an impressive $14,182 from 3,314 venues. The presence of Berry increased the black demographic and women made up nearly half the audience. In the light of XXX's rambunctious bow MGM was also heartened to report under-25s comprised one third of the audience.

Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets slipped to second place with $42.4m for $148.5m after ten days. It passed $100m after six days - a day later than its predecessor - and averaged $11,507 from 3,682 theatres. Opening in third on $13.1m was New Line's comedy Friday After Next, which was written by Ice Cube and follows two earlier instalments. The story centres on efforts by Ice Cube and friends to apprehend a criminal masquerading as Santa Clause. Directed by first-timer Marcus Raboy, it received poor reviews and averaged $8,083 from 1,616 theatres.

The only other opener was Buena Vista's The Emperor's Club, in which Kevin Kline plays an idealistic classics teacher who is challenged by a new student. It debuted in seventh place on a little over $4m, averaging $5,024 from 809 venues with so-so reviews.

Elsewhere, Buena Vista's The Santa Clause 2 fell one place to fourth on $10.3m for $95m in its fourth week on release. Universal's drama 8 Mile is also closing in on $100 and its fifth place $8.7m haul results in a mighty $97.7m in its third week.

Of the limited releases, Sony Classics released Pedro Almovodar's acclaimed drama Talk To Her (Hable Con Ella) in two theatres, grossing $105,000 for a smashing $52,000 per-theatre average - easily the best of the weekend. Miramax opened The Quiet American in six venues for $111,000. Based on Graham Greene's novel about a love triangle in 1950s Vietnam, the picture was directed by Philip Noyce and stars Michael Caine, who is already being tipped as an Oscar contender, and Brendan Fraser. Artisan's documentary Standing In The Shadows Of Motown grossed $155,000 from 36 theatres in its second week and has amassed $316,000 to date.

Estimated Top Ten US November 22-24, 2002

Film (Distributor)/International distribution/Estimated weekend gross/Estimated total to date

1 (-) Die Another Day (MGM) 20th Century Fox $47m -

2 (1) Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets (Warner Bros) Warner Bros $42.37m $148.5m

3 (-) Friday After Next (New Line) New Line International $13.06m --

4 (3) The Santa Clause 2 (Buena Vista) BVI $10.3m $95m

5 (2) 8 Mile (Universal) UIP $8.72m $97.68m

6 (4) The Ring (DreamWorks) UIP $7.6m $110.9m

7 (-) The Emperor's Club (Buena Vista) Beacon/UPI $4.07m --

8 (6) My Big Fat Greek Wedding (IFC Films) Vortex Pictures $3.81m $204.67m

9 (5) Half Past Dead (Columbia/Screen Gems) $3.3m $12.68m

10 (9) Frida (Miramax) BVI $2.4m $12.1m