Return of the King ousted by Polly

Romantic comedy Along Came Polly, starring Jennifer Aniston and Ben Stiller, has taken the crown of The Return of the King at the North American box office.

Proving that a flick starring a Ben and Jen can make money, Along Came Polly grossed £27.6 million (£15.4 million) during its first three days on release.

The third instalment of Peter Jackson's epic Lord of the Rings trilogy spent a month at the box office before Polly came along.

Along Came Polly stars Stiller as a romantically inept man who enters into a risky romance with Aniston's character.

The Return of the King dropped to number four in the chart over the weekend, with takings of $10.2 million (£5.7 million).

Tim Burton's storytelling fantasy Big Fish continued to hold onto the number two spot, taking $10.4 million (£5.8 million).

In third place was motorcycle action movie Torque, which stars rapper-actor Ice Cube and grossed $10.3 million (£5.75 million) in its debut weekend.

Steve Martin comedy, Cheaper By The Dozen, about a couple bringing up 12 children, was at number five, followed by Civil war drama Cold Mountain at six and Jack Nicholson-Diane Keaton comedy Something's Gotta Give at seven. My Baby's Daddy, The Last Samurai and Britflick Calendar Girls completed the top ten.

The only other new release, Disney cartoon Teacher's Pet, failed to make the top ten. The film is about a talking dog who disguises himself as a schoolboy.

The overall box office was down slightly on last year, with the Top 12 movies taking in $95.6 million, a fall of four per cent on the same weekend in 2003.

Titles related to this article

Related/similar articles