Cast Away tops US box office

Far away from the rest: Tom Hanks in Cast Away

Tom Hanks' new film Cast Away stormed to the top of the Christmas box office in the US, according to Hollywood studio estimates.

The movie sold around $40.5m (£27.3m) of tickets between Friday and Christmas Day in both the US and Canada, more than the next two films combined.

Hanks plays the survivor of an air crash who is stranded on a desert island in the South Pacific for four years, while his friends and family presume him to be dead.

The film sees Hanks reunited with Robert Zemeckis, who directed his 1994 hit Forrest Gump.

Cast Away's success will delight executives at Fox, which is distributing the film in the US, who were hoping to take $30m (£20.2m).

Oscars race

This Christmas has seen a raft of films hit US cinemas, many hoping for success at the Oscars in March. Films must open in the US before 31 December to qualify for an Academy Award.

Hanks is already nominated for a Golden Globe award for his part.

Mel Gibson with Helen Hunt in What Women Want

Another film tipped for success is Miss Congeniality, starring Sandra Bullock as an FBI agent who goes undercover at a beauty pageant, which debuted at number five, taking $13.8m (£9.3m). Bullock is also nominated for a Golden Globe award.

Last week's top film, Mel Gibson's What Women Want, slipped to number two, taking $21.5m (£14.5m). It also stars Helen Hunt, who appears alongside Hanks in Cast Away.

Nicolas Cage's romantic comedy drama The Family Man opened at number three with $15.2m (£10.2m).

Grinch steals show

The biggest film of the year in the US, Dr Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas, added another $15m (£10.1m) to its total takings of $235.4m (£171.1m).

Films opening now to qualify for the Oscars include O Brother, Where Art Thou?, starring George Clooney and John Turturro, which opened in the UK in September.

It grossed $200,000 (£135,045) from five screens in New York and Los Angeles, and opens nationwide on 5 January.

The Gift, which stars Cate Blanchett as a tarot card reader caught in a murder probe, took $12,000 (£8,172) on just one screen in Los Angeles, before its nationwide release on 19 January.