Rings hold on at top

The Two Towers has beena huge worldwide success

The Two Towers, the second in the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, has kept hold of the number one slot in the North American box office for the second week.

Steven Spielberg's new film, the 1960s chase movie Catch Me If You Can, could not topple the fantasy epic from the top spot.

The Two Towers took $48.9m (£31.3m) in its second week, making a total of over $200.1m (£128.2m) in its first two weeks.

Catch Me If You Can, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Oscar-winner Tom Hanks, took $30m (£19.2m) over the weekend.

US/Canada top five

1 The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers

2 Catch Me If You Can

3 Two Weeks Notice

4 Maid In Manhattan

5 Gangs Of New York

Source: Exhibitor Relations

It has taken $48m (£30.7m) since it was released last Wednesday according to Exhibitor Relations, which compiles box office figures.

In third place was over the weekend was Two Weeks Notice, a romantic comedy starring Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock.

It took $16.1m (£10m).

In fourth place was Jennifer Lopez's latest romantic comedy, Maid In Manhattan, which took £13m (£8.3m).

Martin Scorsese's epic historical drama Gangs Of New York, is in fifth place, having taken $12m (£7.5m).

The other films in the top ten were Drumline (six), The Wild Thornberry's Movie (seven), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (eight), The Hot Chick (nine) and the latest James Bond film, Die Another Day (10).

The Two Towers has also retained the top spot in the UK over the Christmas period.

The film took over £8m in the UK alone in its first three days.