LOS ANGELES: Warner Bros.` fantasy musical `Wonka,` boosted by the star power of Timothee Chalamet, enjoyed a sweet opening in North American theatres this weekend after an equally strong debut overseas, industry watchers reported on Sunday.

The film took in an estimated $39 million in the United States and Canada for the Friday-through-Sunday period, according to Exhibitor Relations.

That came on top of $112 million in tickets sold overseas, where the film opened a week earlier.

`This is an excellent opening,` particularly since family-friendly films released in December tend to build through the holidays, said analyst David A. Gross. `Momentum is very good,` he added.

The film is a prequel, with Chalamet as a younger version of Roald Dahl`s famous chocolatier Willy Wonka, a character first played by Gene Wilder and then Johnny Depp.

`Wonka` also stars Olivia Colman, KeeganMichael Key, Sally Hawkins and, in his first appearance as an Oompa-Loompa, Hugh Grant.

Another prequel, Lionsgate`s `Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, placed second for the weekend at $5.8 million, showing impressive staying power in its fifth week out.-AFP