With a total gross of USD18m so far, the colourful musical re-took the lead on 40 less sites with an excellent site average of just under USD4,000, beaten only by the debut of Montmarte comedy Amelie which took a huge USD10,000 from a hesitant 80 sites.

Jeunet's fantasy flick will melt audience hearts in need of delightful escapism and should take the top spot on full release if its first weekend performance tells the truth. It took USD800,000 just behind a consistent Mike Basset and Enigma.

Given solid word of mouth it could even beat the foreign language record of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.