The hotly anticipated film Slumdog Millionaire opened in North America this weekend to financial success.

The film sees British actor Dev Patel (from Channel 4’s Skins) play Jamal Malik, an 18 year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai, who is just one question away from winning a staggering 20 million rupees on India’s “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?”

Arrested on suspicion of cheating, he tells the police the incredible story of his life on the streets, and of the girl he loved and lost. But what is a kid with no interest in money doing on the show? And how is it he knows all the answers?

Its distributor Fox Searchlight grossed an estimated $360,066 from 10 screens with a $36,006 screen average. It said this represented the highest opening average for a speciality picture this year, out-grossing Changeling in 15 theatres (a screen average of $32,601) and Rachel Getting Married in 9 theatres (an average of $32,597).

The film will be released across more US screens this coming Friday. It will be released by Pathé in the UK on 9th January 2009.

Directed by Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, 28 Days Later) and written by Simon Beaufoy (The Full Monty) the project was initiated at Film4 who co-developed and co-financed the film with UK production company Celador Films.