The musical, starring Anna Kendrick and Rebel Wilson, raked in $8 million (£5 million) in its opening weekend (15-17May15), easily beating the blockbuster action movie into second place, with $7.2 million (£4.5 million).

The impressive haul also ended hit superhero movie Avengers: Age of Ultron's three-week reign at the top, plunging it into third with $2.5 million (£1.6 million).

The top five was rounded out by spy movie Spooks: The Greater Good, which took $852,000 (£533,000), and period drama Far from the Madding Crowd, with $640,000 (£400,000).