Disney's Emperor invades UK cinemas

Llama charmers: Disney has a half-term hit

Disney fantasy The Emperor's New Groove has followed Hannibal into the UK box office chart, taking more than £1m in its first three days.

The cartoon film, about a vain and cocky emperor who is turned into a llama after sacking one of his staff, took £1.25m across the UK and Ireland between Friday and Sunday, according to figures compiled for Screen International magazine.

Screen International UK/Eire Top 10

1. Hannibal (£6.4m)

2. What Women Want (£1.62m)

3. The Emperor's New Groove (£1.23m)

4. Dude, Where's My Car? (£571,827)

5. ...Rocky And Bullwinkle (£501,443)

6. Traffic (£445,326)

7. Cast Away (£408,463)

8. Dungeons & Dragons (£401,877)

9. Crouching Tiger... (£340,058)

10. Almost Famous (£214,107)

The figures include takings of £280,451 from preview screenings earlier in the week. The film's release coincides with half-term school holidays in many UK schools.

Voiced by US comedians John Goodman and David Spade, the film has so far taken $83m in its home country, where it was released before Christmas.

In the UK it is third in the UK box office, trailing behind record hit Hannibal, which took £6.4m - the biggest opening for any 18-rated film - and breathing down the neck of Mel Gibson's What Women Want, which took £1.6m.

Teen comedy Dude, Where's My Car slips to fourth, while The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle stays fifth in the charts, bringing the animated pair from the 1960s more success in the UK's cinemas than they had on the country's TV screens.

Other half-term hits include fantasy Dungeons and Dragons, a new entry at number eight, which took £401,877 at a relatively low 140 screens.

Hannibal: Sir Anthony Hopkins and Julianne Moore

Jeremy Irons, Tom Baker and Thora Birch star in the film, adapted from the role-playing game played around the world.

Digimon: The Movie enters the chart at number 11, having taken £201,768 between Friday and Sunday.

David Mamet's comedy State And Main performed strongly on its first weekend, taking £81,260 at just 28 screens.

The film, about a small town invaded by a film crew, stars Alec Baldwin, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Sarah Jessica Parker.