Surpassing studio expectations and setting a new record for animated features, Shrek the Third raked in an estimated $122 million at the North American box office over the weekend. The animated sequel easily snatched the top spot from Sony/Columbia’s Spider-Man 3, which has seen a steep drop off in attendance but made a respectable $28.5 million (est.) in its third weekend to bring its overall domestic take to around $281 million. Worldwide, the latest adventure for Marvel’s web slinger has netted approximately $747 million.

Shrek the Third managed to open slightly bigger than Shrek 2, which bowed to $108 million domestically in May of 2004 before going on to make nearly a billion dollars worldwide. An article in last week’s LA Weekly suggests that DreamWorks Animation and Paramount may be fudging Shrek‘s weekend numbers by lumping in receipts from 8 p.m. Thursday screenings in more than 2,000 theaters. Receipts from those venues amounted ot less than $1 million.

With no other new challengers, both Shrek the Third and Spider-Man 3 far outpaced anything else in release. Fox Atomic’s 28 Weeks Later dropped a notch to No. 3 in its second weekend with an estimated $5.1 million take, while Paramount/DreamWorks’ Disturbia held onto the No. 4 slot with around $3.6 million in week six. The Universal chick flick Georgia Rule earned approximately $3.5 million to finish out the top five.

Despite unenthusiastic critical reaction, it’s been a good summer for thirds. Disney hopes to follow Spider-Man 3 and Shrek the Third with big numbers for its own trilogy completer, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. The swashbuckling vfx extravaganza opens in theaters this Friday with mission to make Shrek’s reign a very short one.

View clips, behind-the-scenes featurettes and other Shrek the Third video content now playing on AniMagTV (www.animationmagazine.net/tv).