Die Another Day, the 20th Bond film, took $47m (£30m) during its opening weekend - the best ever debut for a Bond title, according to studio estimates.

It bumped Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets into second place, with the Potter adventure grossing $42.4m (£27m) in its second weekend.

In its first 10 days at cinemas in the US and Canada, the story of Harry's second year at Hogwarts school has taken a magical $148.5m (£94m).

Potter's second adventure has made almost $150m

But this weekend it was gentleman agent 007 in his 40th year on the silver screen who was grabbing all the headlines.

Die Another Day beat the opening gross of the last Bond movie, The World Is Not Enough, the franchise's previous best debut at $35.5m (£22m).

Pierce Brosnan has received favourable reviews for his fourth outing as Bond.

Audience

The casting of Halle Berry as his formidable ally and love interest - plus a cameo and theme song by Madonna - helped it to achieve its record status.

US/ Canada top five

1. Die Another Day 2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets 3. Friday After Next 4. Santa Clause 2 5. 8 Mile Source: Exhibitor Relations

Women accounted for almost half of the audience, while viewers aged under 25 made up about a third, according to distributor MGM.

Potter's makers Warner Bros expect a strong showing for Chamber of Secrets this coming Thanksgiving weekend, traditionally a prime time for family films.

Opening in third place at the box office was Friday After Next, the third in rapper-actor Ice Cube's series of "Friday" urban comedies, which took $13.1m (£8m).