Animated comedy 'Rango' has topped the North American box office.

It is estimated that the movie - which stars Johnny Depp voicing a pet chameleon who leaves his tank for an old western styled town called Dirt - took in $38 million in its first weekend.

'The Adjustment Bureau' starring Matt Damon and Emily Blunt came in second, taking in $20.9 million, followed by Vanessa Hudgens film 'Beastly' which made $10.1 million.

'Hall Pass' and 'Gnomeo and Juliet' also make the top five, taking in nine million and 6.9 million respectively.

However, the figures are weak in comparison to this time last year, when 'Alice in Wonderland' - also starring Johnny Depp - generated $116.1 million.

Paul Dergarabedian, analyst for box office tracker Hollywood.com told the BBC: "We're not even in that realm this year, so this is our second down weekend in a row.

"We've only had one up weekend at the box office versus a year ago - there's this malaise overtaking the marketplace."