The Fox re-make of a 1951 cult classic stars Keanu Reeves as an alien that comes to earth. The movie took in US$30.5 million (S$45 million) over the weekend, the ticket sales tracking company Exhibitor Relations reported.

Second was the comedy Four Christmases, starring Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn who play a couple struggling to visit all four of their divorced parents on Christmas.

The Warner Bros movie raked in US$13 million, for a haul of US$88 million since it opened three weeks ago, Exhibitor Relations said.

Teen vampire movie Twilight made its way to third place, pulling in US$8 million, pushing its total earnings to US$150 million since it opened four weeks ago.

Fourth was Disney's animated hit Bolt, featuring the voices of John Travolta and Miley Cyrus, which earned another US$7.5 million to take its total receipts to US$89 million.

Australia, the epic period romance featuring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, was fifth with US$4.2 million, bringing its total box office sales to just under US$38 million since it opened three weeks ago.

The James Bond thriller Quantum of Solace finished sixth, earning US$3.7 million and US$157.6 million since it opened last month.

In its opening weekend and debuting in seventh place was Nothing like the Holidays, a holiday comedy with a cast that includes Debra Messing and John Leguizamo, which pulled in US$3.5 million.

Next was Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, which amassed US$3.2 million and has earned US$170 million ticket sales for Paramount since the animated feature made its debut six weeks ago.

In ninth place was Milk, the drama about Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in California who was shot dead in 1978 along with the San Francisco city mayor.

The film, starring Sean Penn, is regarded as one of the early contenders for the Oscars and took US$2.6 million.

Rounding off the list at number 10 was the third installment of Lionsgate's action-adventure franchise Transporter 3, starring Jason Statham.

The movie pulled in US$2.35 million in its third week on the big screen, for a haul of US$29.4 million. -- AFP