Michael Eisner will be sighing with relief. The Walt Disney/Pixar animation, Monsters, Inc., scored a $63.5m opening weekend bonanza. Based on estimates, the film set a Disney record and, more important symbolically, reclaims from DreamWorks the record for a three-day opening by an animated film. DreamWorks' animated film Shrek opened in May 2001 with $42.1m and has since earned $267m making it the highest-grossing film of the year thus far.

The weekend box office was a monster in its own right, given that two other newcomers, number two-ranked film The One, Revolution/Columbia's Jet Li vehicle, brought in $20m while Paramount's number three-ranked John Travolta thriller, Domestic Disturbance, grabbed $14.5m. There was even steam enough to push last week's leader, Universal's K-Pax, a further $10m to the better, raising its 10-day cumulative take to $32.1m. Estimated box office grosses were up 90% from the previous weekend and nearly 45% from the same period a year ago.

Another second-frame film, Dark Castle Entertainment's 13 Ghosts managed to stay in the game with $8m, giving it fifth spot in the top ten. But the other Hallowe'en left-over, New Line's horror title Bones, dropped off the chart.

Meanwhile, Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Amelie charmed audiences in New York and LA, earning $140,000 on three screens. Miramax is platforming Amelie to 50 screens this week and to 250 screens Nov. 16 as it prepares for the film's foreign-language Oscar race.

ESTIMATED TOP TEN NORTH AMERICA NOVEMBER 2 -4, 2001

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

1 (-) Monsters, Inc. (Walt Disney) BVI $63.5m

2 (-) The One (Columbia) Columbia TriStar Int'l $20m

3 (-) Domestic Disturbance (Paramount) UIP $14.5m

4 (1) K-Pax (Universal) Intermedia $10.7m $32.1m

5 (2) 13 Ghosts (Warner Bros.) Warner Int'l $8m $27.8m

6 (4) Riding in Cars with Boys (Columbia) Columbia TriStar Int'l $4.5m n/a

7 (3) From Hell (20th Century Fox) Fox Int'l $3.7m n/a

8 (5) Training Day (Warner Bros.) Warner/Village Roadshow $ 3.2m n/a

9 (6) Bandits (MGM) Hyde Park/Fox Int'l $3m n/a

10 (7) Serendipity (Miramax) Miramax International $2.5m n/a