Local hit Bend It Like Beckham saw off fierce competition from UIP's The Scorpion King at the weekend to hold the top spot at the UK box office.

With an impressive second weekend take of $2.5m (£1.7m) from 386 sites Beckham, which is distributed by Helkon SK, dropped off a miniscule 6% from its opening weekend. Its screen average of $6,453 was also the highest of any title currently on release and the ten-day gross now stands at $6.6m (£4.6m).

The Gurinder Chadha film will see tougher competition next week, however, from another UIP title, About A Boy - produced by Working Title and starring Hugh Grant.

Although unable to bend it like Helkon, UIP saw The Scorpion King take a still impressive $2.3m (£1.6m) at its 408 sites. Boasting a strong site average of $5,713 the result is far from disappointing and brought the action title second place. Starring US wrestler The Rock (aka Dwayne Johnson) the film opened day and date with its domestic launch. It also features Michael Clarke Duncan who is fast becoming a blockbuster regular after last year's Planet Of The Apes and is already filming next year's Daredevil (both from 20th Century Fox).

Fox's Ice Age and Entertainment's Blade II claimed positions three and four with $906,247 and $698,437 respectively. Ice Age's total now stands at $18.1m while the Blade sequel has recorded $11.7m - higher than the 1998 original which grossed $9.0m.

BVI saw its The Count Of Monte Cristo take fifth place as it was released across the UK after a three week run in Ireland. The film, which stars Jim Caviezel and Guy Pearce managed a so-so $591,546 from 267 sites for an average of $2,216.

Another holdover playing well in its second week further down the chart was twelfth-placed Y Tu Mama Tambien. The Mexican film, released by Icon Film Distribution in the UK, fell just 9% from its opening weekend to take $239,815 from 38 screens - a powerful average of $6,311