Skyfall tops US box office again

Skyfall stars Daniel Craig in his third outing as Ian Fleming's suave spy, 007

A month after opening in pole position, Skyfall has climbed back up to the top of North America's box office chart.

The James Bond blockbuster kept Dreamworks animation Rise of the Guardians off the number one spot.

Skyfall, which sees Daniel Craig return as 007, earned $10.8m (£6.7m) in its fifth week of release, while Rise of the Guardians took $10.4m (£6.5m).

The final film in the Twilight series was bumped down to third place, after three weeks as the front runner.

The Twilight Saga - Breaking Dawn: Part 2 took $9.2m (£5.7m), just ahead of Lincoln, starring Daniel Day-Lewis as the former US president Abraham Lincoln, which made $8.9m (£5.5m).

At five was Oscar-winning director Ang Lee's interpretation of Booker winning novel Life of Pi, which took $8.3m (£5.2m).

The weekend's only new wide release, romantic comedy Playing for Keeps starring Gerard Butler, had a disappointing opening at six, taking $6m (£3.7m).

Skyfall's return to the top of the chart has brought its total US haul to $261.6m (£162.6m).

The 23rd instalment of the spy thriller series is now the highest grossing film in the Bond franchise, so far taking around $918m (£571m) globally.

It has also surpassed Spider-Man 3's total of $890m (£553m) to become Sony's top-grossing film.