Sword-wielding warrior Tom Cruise captured the No. 1 spot at North American box office with his new Japanese epic "The Last Samurai" over the weekend, according to studio estimates released Sunday.

Affected by a severe snowstorm in the US northeast, "The Last Samurai" earned only a modest 24.4 million US dollars in its first three days of release.

It was the worst opening record for a Cruise wide release since 1999 when "Eyes Wide Shut" opened with 21.7 million dollars. Nevertheless, this was his first in taking over the No. 1 spot at the North America box office.

In the 140-million-dollar film, Cruise stars as a US Civil War veteran who becomes a Samurai warrior in Japan in the 19th century.

"Considering what we faced on the East Coast, we're very, very pleased," said Dan Fellman, president of distribution at Warner Bros. Pictures, which released "The Last Samurai."

If not for the bad weather, the film could have earned 29 million dollars, Fellman said.

After being atop the box office for two weeks, Universal Pictures' "The Cat in the Hat" slid four places to No. 5 with 7.3 million dollars, bringing to its three-week total to 85.5 million dollars.

Universal's new release, "Honey," a hip-hop dance drama starring Jessica Alba, debuted at No. 2 with 14 million dollars.

Ranked at No. 3 was comedian Eddie Murphy's "The Haunted Mansion," released by Walt Disney Pictures, which earned 9.5 million dollars. Their respective totals rose to 46.1 million dollars.

It was followed by the New Line Cinema hit Christmas comedy " Elf" with 8.1 million dollars, bringing to 139.6 million dollars four weeks after release.

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