Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom has recorded the highest per-theatre North American gross ever achieved by a live action film, according to distributor Focus Features.

The film, which had its world premiere on the opening night of the Cannes festival, opened in four US cinemas - two in New York and two in Los Angeles - over the Memorial Day holiday weekend and grossed $523,006 in three days, for a per-theatre average of $130,752. That beat the record of $126,317 set by Dreamgirls in 2006.

Over the four days of the holiday weekend Moonrise Kingdom took $669,486, Focus estimated, for a per-theatre average $167,371.

Outside the US, the film opened in the UK, France, Germany, Austria and Turkey and grossed a total of $1.2m from 570 screens.

It ranked seventh in the UK with $406,070 from 163 screens, eighth in France with $488,149 from 284 and tenth in Germany with $172,323 from 79.

Bruce Willis. Edward Norton. Bill Murray and Frances McDormand lead the cast of the film, the story of two 12-year-olds who fall in love, make a secret pact and run away together into the wilderness.

Focus CEO James Schamus said: “Moonrise is a story of love’s improbable triumph, and for Wes Anderson and his team a labour of love from start to finish. How wonderful it is to congratulate him, on behalf of everyone at Focus, for this remarkable, record-breaking opening.”