Spy Kids topped the box office for the third week running despite stiff competition from three new entries - Miramax Films' Bridget Jones' Diary, Columbia Pictures' Joe Dirt and Universal Pictures' Josie And The Pussycats.

Over the three-day Easter weekend, Spy Kids from Miramax/Dimension grossed a sterling $12.8m, bringing its three week total to $68.6m; Paramount's Along Came A Spider came second in its second weekend with $11.3m and a ten day total of $33.7m.

Bridget Jones' Diary which broke records in the UK took a very impressive $10.8m at just 1,611 sites for an average of $6,713 - higher than either Spy Kids or Spider. The Working Title-produced comedy received generally positive reviews and looks set to repeat the success of Four Weddings And A Funeral and Notting Hill which also starred Hugh Grant and were produced or executive produced by Working Title. Miramax has already announced that it plans to expand the comedy to as many as 2,500 sites this coming weekend.

Columbia's Joe Dirt, a low-brow comedy vehicle for David Spade in which he plays a white trash twenty-something searching for his parents, took $8.2m over the three day weekend and a total of $11.1m since its opening on Wednesday; meanwhile Universal's Josie And The Pussycats - co-financed with MGM which has international rights - was a disappointment with a $5.2m gross over three days and $7.2m over five days. The film version of the 1970s cartoon stars Rachael Leigh Cook, Tara Reid and Rosario Dawson in the title roles.

Best site average of all was clinched by Fox Searchlight's African American ensemble comedy Kingdom Come starring Whoopi Goldberg, Jada Pinkett Smith, Toni Braxton and LL Cool J. The movie grossed $7.5m on 1,111 sites over three days - an average of $6,760 - and $9.7m since Wednesday.

NORTH AMERICAN BOX OFFICE APRIL 13-15

Film (US distributor) Int'l distributor Weekend gross Total gross to date

1 (1) Spy Kids (Dimension) Miramax International $12.8m $68.6m

2 (2) Along Came A Spider (Paramount) UIP $11.3m $33.7m

3 (-) Bridget Jones' Diary (Miramax) Universal-StudioCanal $10.8m --

4 (-) Joe Dirt (Columbia) Columbia TriStar $8.2m $11.1m

5 (3) Blow (New Line) New Line International $8m $25.9m

6 (-) Kingdom Come (Fox Searchlight) Fox International $7.5m $9.7m

7 (-) Josie And The Pussycats (Universal) MGM/Fox $5.2m $7.2m

8 (4) Pokemon 3 (Warner Bros) Warner Bros $2.7m $13m

9 tied (5) Someone Like You (20th Century Fox) Fox International $2.6m $22.3m

9 tied (6) Heartbreakers (MGM) Winchester Films $2.6m $34.4m

9 tied (7) Enemy At The Gates (Paramount) Mandalay/UIP $2.6m $43.1m