Cartoon rat bites into US chart

Ratatouille features aspiring chef Remy the rat

An animated adventure about a rat living in a Paris restaurant beat the return of Bruce Willis in Die Hard to the top of the US box office.

Ratatouille, a Pixar film featuring the voices of Ian Holm and Peter O'Toole, took $47.2m (£23.4m) in its first week.

Willis's Live Free or Die Hard, which will be called Die Hard 4.0 on its UK release, entered at number two with takings of $33.1 (£16.4m).

Last week's number one, Evan Almighty, slipped to third place.

Family saga

Steven King adaptation 1408, starring John Cusack and Samuel L Jackson, fell from two to four.

Blockbuster movies Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Ocean's 13 and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End all managed to sustain audiences, keeping them in the top 10.

Michael Moore's documentary Sicko, which examines the US healthcare industry, reached number nine in its first week on nationwide release, taking $4.5m (£2.2m).

The teaming up of Hollywood stalwarts Glenn Close and Meryl Streep for the family saga Evening failed to attract much box office business.

The film, which also stars Toni Colette, Claire Danes and Vanessa Redgrave, took just $3.5m (£1.7m) in its opening week, placing it at number 10 in the chart.