The tale of a gruff widower borne "Up" by a bunch of colored balloons soared to the top of the North American box office in the third best opening for a movie from the Pixar stable.

The comic but poignant animated 3D story brought in $68.2 million, according to studio estimates issued on Sunday, beating expectations by about $10 million and giving Pixar its most successful opening since "The Incredibles" ($70.5 million) and "Finding Nemo" ($70.3 million) in 2004 and 2003.

"We are ecstatic. It is playing across all demographics. We think we are set for a nice, long run through the summer," said Mark Zoradi, president of the Walt Disney Motion Picture Group.

Pixar, which has found box office gold with subjects ranging from bugs to toys, was acquired by Disney in 2006 and is now a wholly owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Co.

"Up" pushed "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" into second place with $25.5 million in another strong week for family-oriented movies.

Horror newcomer "Drag Me To Hell" from "Spider-Man" director Sam Raimi, opened in third place with $16.6 million, according to studio estimates.

"Terminator: Salvation," starring Welsh-born actor Christian Bale in the post-apocalyptic role of a resistance leader fighting power-hungry machines, took in 16.1 million dollars in box office receipts for fourth place.

At number five was another franchise flick, the critically acclaimed blockbuster "Star Trek," earning 12.8 million dollars for a whopping 209.5 million over four weeks in theaters.

"Up" became the first animated movie to open the Cannes film festival this month. Critics have heaped praise on the movie and the audience response appeared to give the lie to the notion in Hollywood that movies about old age have little commercial appeal.

"When you have the story right and you also have the comedy then you can play to a cross-section of the audience," Zoradi said.

"Up" also did well in its Russian opening weekend, bringing in an estimated $4.2 million, and begins a wider international release next week, Zoradi said.

The "Night at the Museum" sequel starring Ben Stiller as a night security guard dropped 53 percent from its bumper debut last week but the film crossed the coveted $100 million mark to gross $105.2 million in just 10 days of release.

"It is fantastic. Business is very solid right now," said Chris Aronson, senior vice president of distribution at 20th Century Fox, a unit of News Corp, the studio behind the release.

Vatican thriller "Angels & Demons," the Columbia Pictures sequel to 2006 film "The Da Vinci Code," slipped to sixth place but also crossed the $100 million mark to $104.7 million in its third week.

The Sony Corp unit said the movie was doing much better internationally, where its overseas total now stands at $251.7 million.

In seventh place was "Dance Flick," about a street dancer from the wrong side of the tracks bonding with a beautiful girl to battle it out at a dance competition. It drew 4.9 million dollars in ticket sales.

Superhero spinoff "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," which took 87 million dollars in its opening weekend, drew only 3.9 million in receipts for eighth place.

In ninth was romantic comedy "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past," starring Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Garner, earning 1.9 million dollars.

Rounding out the top 12 was Beyonce's thriller "Obsessed," "The Brothers Bloom" and "The Soloist," all earning less than one million dollars.

(Agencies June 1, 2009)