China's Hero holds US box office

Jet Li stars in Chinese epic Hero

Chinese martial arts movie Hero has continued to dominate the US box office, holding off competition from four new releases.

Hero, starring Jet Li, earned an estimated $9m ($5m) over the Labor Day holiday weekend, traditionally a quiet time for cinemas.

Comedy Without a Paddle rose one place to number two, taking $7.1m ($3.9m).

The highest new entry was action movie Paparazzi at number four, which took $6.4m (£3.6m).

The film, made by Mel Gibson's production company Icon, sees a celebrity action star hunting down a gang of photographers who have been hounding him.

US top five 1. Hero 2. Without a Paddle 3. Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid 4. Paparazzi 5. The Cookout Source: Exhibitor Relations

Playing one of the baddies is Tom Sizemore, in his biggest role since he was convicted of abusing his former girlfriend Heidi Fleiss.

Comedy The Cookout, about a basketball star who throws a barbecue for his neighbourhood, entered at number five, with takings of $5.6m (£3.1m).

Psychological drama Wicker Park, featuring Josh Hartnett, opened at number six - in a tie with teen romance movie The Princess Diaries 2 - both taking $5.4m (£3m).

But there was disappointment for the Bollywood-flavoured remake of Vanity Fair, starring Reese Witherspoon, which took $4.9m (£2.7m) over the weekend period.

Distributors Focus Features said its total since opening last Wednesday was $6m (£3.3m).