"The Matrix Revolutions," the third and final installment in the Wachowski Brothers' Matrix franchise, dominated Northern American box office over the past weekend with a take of US$50.1 million, according to studio estimates released Sunday.

The trilogy's finale, released simultaneously in 109 countries by Warner Brothers, is expected to rake in a record US$204 million worldwide in its first five days, according to a statement from Warner Brothers.

The impressive numbers were still about 45 percent less than the US$91.7 million that the second Matrix film, "The Matrix Reloaded," took in its first three-day weekend, although both movies were given less than glowing reviews.

"The Matrix Reloaded" took in US$157.6 million in ticket sales when it debuted in May in the United States and Canada, setting the record for the biggest opening week ever. It went on to rack up US$735 million in global ticket sales of which 62 percent was international.

The first "Matrix" in 1999 racked up US$456 million in global ticket sales of which about 63 percent was international.

The Christmas comedy "Elf," starring Will Ferrell, who played a wayward elf searching for his father in New York City, grossed about US$32 million to take the second place.

It was followed by Disney's cartoon movie "Brother Bear," which tells a tale about a boy who turns into bear and discovers some natural truth, earned US$18.6 million.

The champ in the past two weeks, "Scary Movie 3," slipped to No. 4 with US$11.1 million in ticket sales, bringing its three- week gross to US$93.3 million.

Rounding up the Top Five was "Radio" with US$7.4 million.

The top 12 films has a combined gross of US$146.8 million, a huge 62.8 percent gain over last weekend, and a 13.1 percent jump over this time last year.

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