Double whammy for Eminem

Eminem has won praise as an actor

Eminem has achieved the rare feat of topping both the movie and the music charts simultaneously.

The rapper's debut film - the semi-autobiographical 8 Mile - far outdistanced the competition in weekend North American box office receipts, according to early figures.

The film, which tells the tale of a struggling hip-hop artist, made an estimated $54.4m (£34.7m) - more than double the intake of second-place movie, Santa Clause 2.

It was the second-best opening ever for an R-rated film behind Hannibal, which made its debut last year with $58m (£37m).

A US R-rating bans under-17s from seeing a film without a parent or guardian.

The film pushed The Ring into third place. The Eddie Murphy comedy, I Spy, came in at fourth, with reality stunt movie Jackass in fifth position.

Runaway success

Meanwhile, the soundtrack to the film - also called 8 Mile - was placed at number one in the US album chart, having sold 702,000 copies.

The album, which features tracks from Jay-Z, Nas, Gang Starr and Macy Gray, beat Christina Aguilera's new album Stripped and Nirvana's greatest hits collection.

8 Mile premiered in Los Angeles

The soundtrack is Eminem's second top-seller this year after the runaway success of his blockbuster CD The Eminem Show, which sold 1.32m in its first full week of release earlier this year.

Although he has been described as a misogynist and a homophobe, critics have been full of praise for Eminem's acting debut, describing him as a natural.

8 Mile sees him star as an angry young white man named Jimmy "Rabbit" Smith Jr.

Loosely based on Eminem's real life story, 8 Mile focuses on a critical week in the life of Jimmy in which he raps his way to redemption, supported by a cast that includes Kim Basinger as his mother and Brittany Murphy as the love interest.

It is due for release in the UK on 13 January 2003.