Daniel Craig's James Bond film Casino Royale has been beaten at the North American box office by a tap-dancing penguin, studio estimates show.

Computer animated comedy Happy Feet, featuring the voices of Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, made $42.3m in its first three days of release, while Casino Royale took $40.6m over the same period.

However, Casino Royale did open on almost 400 fewer screens than Warner Bros' Happy Feet.

Previous bond film Die Another Day, starring Pierce Brosnan as 007, generated $47.1m on its opening weekend back in 2002.

Last weekend's champion, spoof documentary Borat, dropped two places to number three, with ticket sales of $14.3m.

Disney's The Santa Clause 3 and animated tale Flushed Away also slipped two spots to fourth and fifth respectively.

Other films in the top 10 included Will Ferrell comedy Stranger Than Fiction and gory horror film Saw III.

The top 12 films in the US pulled in an estimated $133.6m over the weekend, down 22 per cent from the same weekend last year.

Casino Royale, based on the first of Ian Fleming's popular spy novels, made a further $42.2m at the International box office.

The 21st Bond film sees Daniel Craig play the role of 007 and Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen play the role of Bond's nemesis Le Chiffre.

Other stars with a role in the film include Eva Green, Judi Dench, Jeffrey Wright, Giancarlo Giannini, Caterina Murino and Jesper Christensen.

Craig, 38, is the sixth actor to play the super-spy after Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan.

NORTH AMERICAN TOP 10:

1. Happy Feet ($42.3m)
2. Casino Royale ($40.6m)
3. Borat ($14.3m)
4. The Santa Clause 3 ($8.2m)
5. Flushed Away ($6.8m)
6. Stranger Than Fiction ($6.6m)
7. Babel ($2.9m)
8. Saw III ($2.8m)
9. The Departed ($2.6m)
10. The Queen ($2.3m)
SOURCE: Exhibitor Relations