Date Movie fends off Clooney film

Spoof romantic comedy Date Movie has held on to the top spot at the UK box office for the second week, fending off George Clooney's Oscar-winning Syriana.
The comedy took just over £1m between Friday and Sunday - around £200,000 more than Clooney's oil drama made in its first three days on release.

Its star won a best supporting actor Oscar for his performance in the film.

The thriller Lucky Number Slevin held steady at three, while animated Disney caper Chicken Little fell to four.

Cross-dressing comedy Big Momma's House 2, starring Martin Lawrence, is in fifth place, still performing well on its fourth week of release.

TOP FIVE UK FILMS
1. Date Movie
2. Syriana
3. Lucky Number Slevin
4. Chicken Little
5. Big Momma's House 2
Source: Screen International

Indeed, it did significantly better than new comedies starring Nicolas Cage, Pierce Brosnan and Queen Latifah, all of which enjoyed disappointing debuts.

Cage's The Weather Man entered the chart in eighth place with weekend takings of £406,270 - only just ahead of Latifah's Last Holiday at nine and Brosnan's The Matador at ten.

In contrast, low-budget British drama Kidulthood had a decent opening, earning just over £100,000 from its 41 screens.

The film, starring Doctor Who actor Noel Clarke, entered the chart at 15 but still performed better than Cage and Brosnan's films on a screen-for-screen basis.

Despite featuring prominently in Sunday's Oscar ceremony, Walk the Line, Brokeback Mountain and Capote all saw their takings down on the previous week.