Relativity’s fantasy epic directed by Tarsem and starring Henry Cavill, Mickey Rourke and Freida Pinto slew the competition, opening on a decent $32m.

Combined with the $37m international debut the film that according to sources cost in the region of $75m has already amassed $69m.

Sony’s Adam Sandler vehicle Jack And Jill, in which the comedian plays male and female twins, opened in second place on $26m, well below Sandler headliners of recent years like Click, The Longest Yard and You Don’t Mess With The Zohan.

Warner Bros launched its heavyweight awards contender J Edgar in fifth place on a mild $11.5m. Clint Eastwood directed the J Edgar Hoover biopic starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

Tower Heist, the caper involving men-of-the-moment Brett Ratner and Eddie Murphy, fell two places to number four and has generated an unremarkable $43.9m after two weekends.

Director Ratner resigned last week as the upcoming Oscar telecast producer following a gay slur during a recent Q&A and was followed by Murphy, who was set to host the show. Brian Grazer and Don Mischer will serve as producers and Billy Crystal returns for what will be his ninth stint as Academy Awards host.

DreamWorks Animation’s Puss In Boots and Paranormal Activity 3 both crossed $100m in their third and fourth weekends, respectively.

Lars von Trier’s Melancholia debuted through IFC on $265,000 from 19 for a $13,947 per-theatre average. The same distributor launched Werner Herzog’s documentary Into The Abyss on $50,800 in 12 for a $4,233 average.

Jose Padilha’s Elite Squad: The Enemy Within, Brazil’s foreign language Oscar submission and the biggest hit in local box office history, opened in a single theatre through Variance Films on $9,500.

Next weekend’s wide releases are: The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn (Part One) from Summit Entertainment starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner and Michael Sheen; and Happy Feet Two, Warner Bros’ follow-up to its 2006 best animated feature Oscar winner. Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Brad Pitt and Sofia Vergara are among the voice cast and once again George Miller directs.

Estimated Top 10 North America Nov 11-13, 2011
Film (Dist) / Est wkd gross / Est total to date

1 (-) Immortals (Relativity) Relativity/Lionsgate/Universal $32m –

2 (-) Jack And Jill (Sony) SPRI $26m –

3 (1) Puss In Boots (DreamWorks Animation/Paramount) PPI $25.5m $108.8m

4 (2) Tower Heist (Universal) UPI $13.2m $43.9m

5 (-) J Edgar (Warner Bros) WBPI $11.5m $11.6m

6 (3) A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas (Warner Bros-New Line) WBPI $5.9m $23.2m

7 (5) In Time (Fox) Fox Int’l $4.2m $30.7m

8 (4) Paranormal Activity 3 (Paramount) PPI $3.6m $100.8m

9 (6) Footloose (Paramount) PPI $2.7m $48.9m

10 (7) Real Steel (DreamWorks/Buena Vista) WDSMPI $2m $81.7m