'X-Men' oust 'Da Vinci'

The third 'X-Men' film knocks Ron Howard's thriller from the top spot in London.

May 31 2006

A mob of mutant marauders knocked 'The Da Vinci Code' off the top of the box office in London after just a week on release.

'X-Men: The Last Stand' opened at number one with a £440,102 gross, which was enough to push 'Da Vinci's £404,086 haul into second place.

And while Ron Howard's much-hyped adaptation of Dan Brown's bestseller has already grossed well over £1million in London, the chances are it may not now turn out to be the all-conquering hit that many had predicted.

TOMB favourite 'Brick' held its own at number four after three weeks on release, while further down the chart, the new entries split into two very different categories.

At number six, 'The Wild' won the battle of the half term 'toons, with 'Curious George' only managing to swing in at number nine.

And of the more adult-oriented fare, 'Friends with Money' came straight in at number seven, narrowly defeating the excellent 'Down in the Valley', which was a new entry at number eight.

Next week, two very different disaster movies will compete for the top spot – the enjoyably derivative popcorn flick 'Poseidon' and Paul Greengrass's powerful 9/11 drama 'United 93'.