HELEN MIRREN - NATIONAL TREASURE STILL SHINING

NATIONAL TREASURE STILL SHINING

National Treasure: Book of Secrets has seen off strong competition to hold the number one spot at the American box office for a second week.

The Nicolas Cage-starring movie took $35.6 million (£17.8 million) from 3,832 sites while children's tale Alvin and the Chipmunks overtook I Am Legend to grab second spot.

In the action sequel Cage reprises his role as treasure hunter Ben Gates to discover the truth behind the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

He is joined by an all-star cast including Helen Mirren, Jon Voight, Diane Kruger and Harvey Keitel.

Though its second weekend saw a 20 per cent drop in taking compared to its $45.5 million (£22.9 million) opening three days, Book of Secrets has still taken $124 million (£61.7 million) after its first ten days in theatres, easily surpassing the $87.5 million (£43.6 million) grossed by National Treasure in its first ten.

"I honestly think grosses for Book of Secrets will finish the holiday ahead of the final domestic gross for the first movie," Disney president of distribution Chuck Viane told Variety.

Political satire Charlie Wilson's War - directed by Mike Nichols and scripted by West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin - held firm in fourth, while indie comedy Juno built on its Oscar buzz to climb five places to fifth.

Despite only showing in 998 theatres, Juno - featuring 20-year-old Ellen Page as a pregnant teen - improved its gross by a huge 201 per cent from the previous weekend.

The top five movies at the US and Canada box office are:
1 National Treasure: Book of Secrets - $35.6 million (£17.8 million)
2 Alvin and the Chipmunks - $30 million (£15 million)
3 I Am Legend - $27.5 million (£14.6 million)
4 Charlie Wilson's War - $11.7 million (£5.6 million)
5 Juno - $10.3 million (£5.2 million)