Mike Myers at the premiere of Dr Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat in Los Angeles. (Reuters)

Los Angeles, Nov. 24 (AFP): A whiskered Mike Myers won over North American audiences this weekend, earning more than $40 million at the box office.

Dr Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat, an adaptation of the classic rhyming children’s book, is expected to rake in $40.1 million in its weekend debut, according to box office trackers Exhibitor Relations.

That’s more than double the take of the number-two film, Gothika, starring Oscar-winner Halle Berry as a psychiatrist who wakes up as a patient in her institution. The movie, also starring Robert Downey Jr. and Penelope Cruz made an estimated $19.6 million in its debut weekend.

Saturday Night Live funnyman Will Ferrell slipped from top place to third with his Christmas comedy Elf, which took about $19.1 million. Russell Crowe’s sea-faring epic Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World drew $9.1 million.

The British comedy Love Actually, from the makers of Four Weddings and Funeral, landed fifth with $6.7 million.

The final installment of the Matrix trilogy, The Matrix Revolutions, starring Keanu Reeves, made $6.7 million, while Disney’s animated film Brother Bear took in $5.5 million.

Mixing animated and live characters, Looney Tunes: Back in Action landed eighth with $4.1 million. Slasher spoof Scary Movie 3 made an estimated $3.2 million, and Cuba Gooding Jr’s feel-good film Radio rounded out the top 10 with $2.6 million in ticket sales.