"Ice Age: Continental Drift," the fourth of the successful "Ice Age" franchise, beat "The Amazing Spider-Man" to top the North America box office with better-than-expected 46 million U.S. dollars at the weekend, according to studio estimates released by Hollywood.com Sunday.

"Ice Age: Continental Drift," the family friendly animation from the 20th Century Fox, debuted in 3,880 theaters of the North American market after it has been released in international territories since the weekend following June 29. The film has drawn huge numbers of kids and parents to theaters and is on its way to rule all 34 global markets with its shattering opening performance, despite the fact that the other two 3D animated films "Brave" and "Madagascar 3" are still being screened in theaters.

The fourth installment, like its predecessors full of humor and love, has taken in more than 200 million dollars before it was released in North America. The other three installments of the " Ice Age" franchise has raked in more than 2.1 billion dollars worldwide, including nearly 600 million in North America.

The Sony's reboot "The Amazing Spider-Man" was the second with 36 million U.S. dollars at its second weekend screening, bringing its two-week total to 200.2 million dollars in North America. With new director Marc Webb and leads Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone, the film has been enjoying a fantastic north American and international box office performance. The first 3D "Spider-Man" film passed the 400-million-dollar threshold worldwide on July 11.

Seth MacFarlane's "Ted" from the Universal Pictures, a R-rated film featuring a foul-mouthed but funny teddy bear, also enjoyed another solid week, taking in another 22.1 million dollars in earnings, bringing its three-week total to over 159 million dollars in U.S. and Canadian markets.

Pixar and Disney's 3D animation "Brave" entered its fourth week with an extra 10.7 million dollars as it has grossed a total of 195.6 million dollars from the North America market by the weekend.

The fifth went to "Magic Mike" of Warner Bros., with 9 million dollars this weekend and 91.85 million dollars in total from the North American market.

Rounding up top ten movies at the North America box office at the weekend were: "Savages" (8.7 million dollars), "Tyler Perry's Madea's Witness Protection" (5.6 million dollars), "Katy Perry: Part of Me" (3.7 million dollars), "Moonrise Kingdom" (3.66 million dollars) and "Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted" (3.5 million dollars).

VietNamNet/Xinhuanet