21, the Kevin Spacey gambling drama, turned the tables on Dr Suess at the US box office this weekend, knocking the animated children's story off the top spot.
The Vegas-set blackjack thriller scooped $23.7m, according to Variety. Based on a true story, it features elite university students trained to become card experts and taking the Vegas casinos for millions.
Superhero Movie, the latest in a long line of genre spoofs (though this one could be partially redeemed by the return of the great Leslie Nielsen), flopped into third with just $9.5m.
Simon Pegg's Run Fatboy Run went out of the blocks slowly, opening in Eighth spot, with $2.4m. But another British movie continues to fare well in the US: Bank Job, the 70s-set heist thriller starring Jason Statham, clung on at ten for its fourth consecutive week at the high end of the US charts.
Elsewhere Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns slipped to four while the new Owen Wilson comedy, Drillbit Taylor, took a hefty drop down to five, suggesting the wheels may be coming off the Judd Apatow comedy bandwagon.