Tropic film dethrones Dark Knight

Ben Stiller comedy Tropic Thunder has dethroned Batman sequel The Dark Knight at the US and Canadian box office.

The spoof, about a group of actors who end up fighting in a real war, took $26m (£14m) in its first weekend.

The Dark Knight, starring Christian Bale as Batman and Heath Ledger as his arch-enemy The Joker, had held the top spot for four weeks.

It earned another $16.8m (£9m) to overtake Star Wars as America's second highest-grossing film of all time.

James Cameron's 1997 epic Titanic remains the highest-grossing film in the US with takings of $601m (£322m).

Musical

The animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars opened in third place with $15.5m (£8.3m), while the latest Hollywood remake of a cult Asian horror film, Mirrors, starring Kiefer Sutherland, was in fourth spot with $11.1m (£6m).

Cannabis comedy Pineapple Express, from the makers of Knocked Up, was in fifth place with earnings of $10m (£5.36m).

Action-adventure The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor was sixth with $8.6m (£4.6m), ahead of Abba musical Mamma Mia!, with $6.5m (£3.5m).

Rounding out the top 10 were The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, with $5.93m (£3.2m), ahead of comedy Step Brothers with $5m (£2.7m).

Woody Allen's latest film, romantic comedy Vicky Cristina Barcelona, was 10th with $3.7m (£2m).

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