Minions invade North American box office with record-breaking number one

Despicable Me spin-off Minions has scored the second-biggest opening weekend for an animated film in North American box office history with a $115.2 million haul.

The impressive debut falls just short of the record held by Shrek the Third, which raked in $121.6 million upon its release in 2007.

Minions, which features the voices of Sandra Bullock and Jon Hamm, also made history with the biggest single day takings ever for a cartoon feature in North America, after striking gold with $46.2 million on Friday (10Jul15) alone.

The movie's huge success replaces Jurassic World at number one; the dinosaur epic slips to two with a strong $18.1 million in its fifth week after stomping all over its competition for the past month.

Another animated family comedy, Inside Out, takes third place with $17.1 million , with Terminator Genisys and new horror film The Gallows rounding out the new top five.