Time travel flick debuts at number one in US

Time-travel thriller The Butterfly Effect has fluttered to the top of the North American box office chart in its first weekend on general release.

The film, starring Ashton Kutcher, took a surprising $17.1 million (£9.4 million) in its opening weekend, despite a string of negative reviews.

Kutcher plays a young man in the film who tries to alter the course of fate with terrible consequences. Amy Smart stars opposite him as his ill-fated love interest.

Ben Stiller and Jennifer Aniston comedy Along Came Polly dropped a place to number two in its second week, taking $16.6 million (£9.1 million).

Romantic comedy Win A Date With Tad Hamilton! debuted in third place, with $7.6 million (£4.2 million) in ticket sales.

Tim Burton's fantasy adventure Big Fish slipped to fourth place, followed by blockbuster Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King at five.

The final instalment in the fantasy trilogy has now taken about $337 million (£187 million) in North American cinemas alone, since its release six weeks ago.

Steve Martin comedy Cheaper by the Dozen, about a family with 12 children, was at six, Civil War drama Cold Mountain, starring Jude Law and Nicole Kidman, was at seven and motorcycle action film Torque finished in eighth place.

Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson's film Something's Gotta Give and director Clint Eastwood's crime thriller Mystic River rounded off the top ten.

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