DreamWorks Animation’s Puss In Boots strode to the top of the charts thanks to an estimated $34m haul which combined with the $17m international launch through PPI for a $51m worldwide opening weekend.

Antonio Banderas voices the Shrek spin-off, which flew into town on the back of positive reviews. Salma Hayek, Zach Galifianakis and Guillermo del Toro also feature.

Paramount’s Paranormal Activity 3 slipped one place to number two and continues to soar into profitability on $81.3m after two weekends. The early worldwide tally stands at more than $135m.

Fox’s sci-fi thriller In Time starring Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried arrived in third place on a disappointing $12m, while Film District’s The Rum Diary starring Johnny Depp, Aaron Eckhart and Amber Heard opened at number five on $5m.

In a statement FilmDistrict’s president of theatrical distribution Bob Berney acknowledged the numbers were lower than expected but added the company was “proud of the film and its loving tribute to Hunter S Thompson.”

Next weekend’s wide releases are Universal’s comedy Tower Heist starring Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy and New Line’s A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas through Warner Bros.

Estimated Top 10 North America Oct 28-30, 2011
Film (Dist) / Est wkd gross / Est total to date

1 (-) Puss In Boots (DreamWorks Animation/Paramount) PPI $34m –

2 (1) Paranormal Activity 3 (Paramount) PPI $18.5m $81.3m

3 (-) In Time (Fox) Fox Int’l $12m –

4 (3) Footloose (Paramount) PPI $5.4m $38.4m

5 (-) The Rum Diary (FilmDistrict) GK Films $5m –

6 (2) Real Steel (DreamWorks/Buena Vista) WDSMPI $4.7m $73.9m

7 (4) The Three Musketeers (Summit) Summit Int’l $3.5m $14.8m

8 (5) The Ides Of March (Columbia) Exclusive Films Int’l $2.7m $33.5m

9 (7) Moneyball (Sony) SPRI $2.4m $67.4m

10 (11) Courageous (TriStar) SPRI $1.8m $27.5m