The film features quick-fire parodies of familiar movies

The film, which lampoons movies including The Da Vinci Code and Borat, took an estimated $19.2m (�9.8m).

Gangster film Smokin' Aces placed second after its first weekend, taking $14.3m (�7.3m) from Friday to Sunday.

Comedy Night at the Museum had the third-highest takings, while Oscar nominees Dreamgirls, Pan's Labyrinth and The Queen featured in the top 10.

NORTH AMERICA BOX OFFICE 1. Epic Movie ($19.2m) 2. Smokin' Aces ($14.3m) 3. Night at the Museum ($9.45m) 4. Catch and Release ($8m) 5. Stomp the Yard ($7.8m) 6. Dreamgirls ($6.6m) 7. The Pursuit of Happyness ($5m) 8. Pan's Labyrinth ($4.5m) 9. The Queen ($4m) 10. The Hitcher ($3.59m) (Source: Media By Numbers)

Night at the Museum, which stars Ben Stiller as a night watchman at a museum where the exhibits come to life, has grossed $216.7m (�110.6m) in six weeks on release.

Newly released romance Catch and Release was at four with $8m (�4.08m) while the leader of the last two weeks, Stomp the Yard, slipped to fifth with $7.8 m (�3.98m).

Dreamgirls, which gathered the highest number of Oscar nominations, was at six while Will Smith's The Pursuit of Happyness was ahead of Pan's Labyrinth, The Queen and The Hitcher.

The 12 top-grossing movies earned about $89m (�45.4m), an 11.2% drop from the $100.1m (�51.1m) grossed by the top dozen films at the same time last year.