Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum haven't just charmed each other with their Hollywood bromance, it seems they've charmed North America's cinema-going public, too. 21 Jump Street shot straight to the top of the box office charts on its opening weekend (March 16-18, 2012), after reviewers warmed to Tatum and Hill's on-screen chemistry and offbeat humour.

The 80s TV show remake premiered at last week's SXSW festival and on its large-scale release, managed to rake in an impressive $36.3 million, according to Hollywood.com. 21 Jump Street even toppled the hugely popular animation, Dr Seuss' The Lorax, which dropped into second place, with sales of $22.8 million. In third place was Disney's John Carter, which is making headlines less for its appeal and more for its painful struggle to break even, with a reported budget of a staggering $250 million. Worldwide, the movie has broken the $100 million mark which, in any other circumstances would be wholly respectable but with such large overheads, there's still a long way for the film to go before the executives at Disney can stop biting their nails. There was a big jump down to fourth place in the box office chart, with Project X - the teen house party romp - brining in just $4 million.

21 Jump Street is a comedic tale of two young, inept policeman sent to work undercover and bust a drug ring. The movie has been praised for its modern script update and the performances of the two central characters, played by Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill.