A poster of Pixar Animation's "Ratatouille". (File Photo)

    LOS ANGELES, July 1 (Xinhua) -- The rat who acts as chef in a French restaurant in Paris feasted on North American box office receipts this weekend, as Pixar Animation's "Ratatouille" raked in an estimated 47.2 million U.S. dollars to win the top spot.

    The animated comedy about an aspiring gourmet rat, released by Disney after it bought Pixar for 7.4 billion dollars last year, became the latest Pixar flick to open in first place, according to Los Angeles-based box office tracker Media By Numbers Sunday.

    If estimates hold, the movie will boast the sixth biggest Pixar opening, after "Cars," "The Incredibles," "Finding Nemo," Monsters, Inc." and "Toy Story 2."

    It is the eighth movie produced by Pixar since it established in 1995.

    "Live Free or Die Hard," the fourth installment in the "Die Hard" series starring Bruce Willis, opened in second place with an estimated 33.2 million dollars. The Fox movie, with Willis character John McClane battling an Internet terrorist syndicate, is the biggest "Die Hard" debut.

    Last week's leader, Universal's comedy "Evan Almighty," dropped to third place this weekend with an estimated 15 million dollars in ticket sales.

    The Stephen King thriller "1408" came in fourth place in its second week of release, with an estimated 10.6 million dollars, while the superhero action sequel "Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer," dropped two spots to fifth with an estimated 9 million dollars. The film has grossed about 114.8 million dollar in three weeks.

    The top-selling 12 films this week took in a total of about 146.7 million dollar, up 2.1 percent from the same period last year, snapping a four-week downturn in a summer when many analysts earlier has expected a record box office for Hollywood. Final weekend box office figures will be released Monday.