The makers of Scooby Doo must be wagging their tails with glee after achieving huge US box office success this weekend. The producers of the Warner Bros film said they would have been happy with an opening of around $35m. They got a remarkable $56.4m, giving the comedy the third biggest opening of 2002, after Spiderman and Star Wars: Episode II.

Reuters reports that the movie, based on the hit television cartoon, now ranks as the biggest June opener ever, beating Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, into second place. It marked an impressive weekend for the US box office, which is now set to reach $10bn this year, up from last year's record $9bn.

Scooby Doo stars Freddie Prinze Jr, his fiancée Sarah Michelle Gellar and Matthew Lillard. It cost around $80m and, inevitably, a sequel is in the works.

The film's success pushed Ben Affleck's nuclear thriller The Sum of All Fears into fourth place, with the second spot was taken by Matt Damon's The Bourne Identity. Third place went to Nicolas Cage's Windtalkers - rather a disappointment for the much anticipated drama.