Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland has entered the North America box office at number one, with record opening takings for a 3D movie.

The film, starring Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter, raked in $116.3m, beating the first weekend performance of blockbuster Avatar.

Police thriller Brooklyn's Finest made its debut at two with a relatively small return of $13.5m.

Shutter Island by Martin Scorsese fell from the top spot to number three.

Alice in Wonderland, which had been expected by makers Disney to rake in closer to $70 million, also set a record for the highest first weekend earner in the first three months of any year.

The benchmark was previously set by Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ in 2004.

Tim Burton's interpretation of the Lewis Carroll classic benefited from being awarded a child-friendly certificate in the US, despite some objections to the presence of a smoking caterpillar in the film.

3D blockbuster Avatar - which lost out on the Oscar for best picture on Sunday - maintained its box office presence for a 12th week in North America, in fifth place.

In the US and Canada alone, it has made more than $720m since its first week of release.

From the BBC

Johnny Depp Wants To Watch Alice In Wonderland

Johnny Depp is hoping to catch a screening of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland - despite having avoided watching all his film collaborations with the director in the past.
 
Depp has worked on a number of Burton's big-screen projects - including Edward Scissorhands, Sleepy Hollow and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - but refuses to sit down and watch after they're completed.
 
Burton tells U.K. TV host Jonathan Ross, "He's willing to try anything (but) he doesn't look like looking at himself. He's never watched a movie that we've done together."
 
But the actor is planning to end his boycott - because he's convinced the filmmaker has outdone himself with their latest outing.
 
Depp says, "I can't stand it (watching my movies). I just prefer to walk away with the experience of the process and just to have that and that's plenty.

"But this one I want to see because it's Tim at his utmost. He's really gone far beyond on this one."

Alice In Wonderland is the seventh collaboration for the pair, and the first since Sweeney Todd back in 2008.

From Malextra