LOS ANGELES, USA (AFP) — Big-budget action-adventure Jack the Giant Slayer crushed all rivals in its debut weekend, easily topping the North American box office, industry estimates showed.

'Jack', which stars Nicholas Hoult in the title role as a young farmhand battling giants to save a princess, raked in $28 million in its first three days of release, according to box office tracker Exhibitor Relations.

It easily unseated the comedy Identity Thief starring Melissa McCarthy and Jason Bateman, which dropped back to second place with $9.7 million in box office receipts. So far, 'Thief' has taken in $107.4 million.

Debuting in third place was comedy 21 & Over, about a medical student who goes out partying with his buddies for his 21st birthday on the eve of a major med school exam. The film took in $9 million from Friday to Sunday.

In fourth place was horror sequel The Last Exorcism Part II, which earned an estimated $8 million in its opening weekend.

Action film Snitch starring Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson dropped from second to fifth place with $7.7 million, followed by animated kids movie Escape from Planet Earth, in sixth with $6.7 million.

Romantic drama Safe Haven, the latest adaptation of a Nicholas Sparks novel, was in seventh place at $6.3 million.

Silver Linings Playbook, whose star Jennifer Lawrence took home the Oscar for best actress, finished in eighth place with $5.9 million. It has so far taken in $115.5 million in box office sales.

A Good Day to Die Hard, the latest Die Hard action film with Bruce Willis reprising his role as supercop John McClane, finished in ninth place despite less-than-flattering reviews with $4.5 million.

Rounding out the top 10 was science fiction horror movie Dark Skies with $3.6 million.