RIDLEY SCOTT - CHIHUAHUA RULES US BOX OFFICE WITH BODY OF LIES AT THREE

CHIHUAHUA RULES US BOX OFFICE WITH BODY OF LIES AT THREE

Beverly Hills Chihuahua has held the number one spot in the US for the second week with Sir Ridley Scott's new thriller Body of Lies debuting in third.

The family comedy, which features Drew Barrymore as the voice of a pampered pet who gets lost in Mexico, took $17.5 million (£10.2 million) in its second weekend on release to stay at the top of the charts.

Horror movie Quarantine entered the chart in second while Body of Lies, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe as CIA agents, took $13.1 million (£7.6 million) to debut in a disappointing third.

Warner Bros' head of distribution Dan Fellman said the studio "ran into really difficult timing" with the release of Body of Lies.

"The nation suffered such an economic loss this week that the mood of our audience was such that they were probably looking for a little more escapism than to see a movie on terrorism," he told Variety.

Chuck Viane, Disney's distribution chief, said of Beverly Hills Chihuahua's continued success: "People come out for comedy. They love to sit back and let someone give them a couple of hours of escapism."

NFL movie The Express debuted at number six while family film City of Ember met expectations in reaching the top ten after its opening weekend on release.

The top ten films at the US box office are: (last week's position)

1 Beverly Hills Chihuahua (1)
2 Quarantine (-)
3 Body of Lies (-)
4 Eagle Eye (2)
5 Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (3)
6 The Express (-)
7 Nights in Rodanthe (4)
8 Appaloosa (5)
9 The Duchess (15)
10 City of Ember (-)