It didn’t exactly enjoy the warmest critical reaction, but the new Melissa McCarthy/Jason Bateman comedy Identity Thief stole a march on the competition and scored a healthy $36.5 million – ahead of expectations – to claim the top spot at the US box office this weekend.

The comedy’s success meant zom-rom-com Warm Bodies stumbled down one place to second, though it still took in $11.5 million. Third was new arrival Side Effects, with Steven Soderbergh’s pill popping thriller earning $10 million. Silver Linings Playbook was fourth with $6.9 million, while Hansel And Gretel: Witch Hunters fell to fifth and $5.7 million.

Sixth was Mama, which took in $4.3 million, ahead of Zero Dark Thirty, which dropped to seventh and $4 million. Argo bounded back up the charts to eighth, adding $2.5 million to a running total of $123.7 million, Django Unchained was ninth with $2.8 million and Bullet To The Head dropped like a stone to 10th, taking home $1.9 million for a poor $8 million so far.

To see a con woman take down a zombie for chart standing, head to Box Office Mojo.