The animated Shrek spin-off, featuring the voices of Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek, earned $33 million (£20.63 million) to shut out Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy's new comedy Tower Heist, which garnered $25.1 million (£15.7 million).

A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas was another new entry at three after grossing $13.1 million (£8.19 million).