Ananova:

Shrek 2 has hit the top of the US box office chart, more than doubling the first weekend takings of the original movie.

According to BBC Online Shrek 2 took an estimated 104.3 million dollars (£58.5m) over the weekend, and 125.3 million dollars (£70.2m) since opening on Wednesday.

Brad Pitt's epic Troy slipped to second place, making 23.9 million dollars (£13.4m) over the weekend, followed by Van Helsing.

The original Shrek, which went on to win an Oscar, took 42.3 million dollars (£23.7m) in its opening weekend in May 2001.

Shrek 2, which features the voices of Cameron Diaz, Mike Myers and Eddie Murphy, set a single-day record on Saturday with takings of 44.8 million dollars, narrowly beating the previous record of 43.8 million dollars set by Spider-Man in 2002.

Teen star Lindsay Lohan's film Mean Girls was fourth at the box office, while Denzel Washington's Man on Fire was fifth.

It was a quiet week for new releases, with studios shying away from putting out movies to compete with Shrek 2, which has appealed to audiences of all ages.

Shrek 2 will face stiffer competition from disaster movie The Day After Tomorrow, which gets its US and UK release on Friday.