NannyMcPhee has worked her magic on the UK box office, takingstop spot in its third weekend.

The WorkingTitle film, which stars Emma Thompson, took $2.9m (£1.7m) over the weekend tobring its total after 17 days to $22.3m (£12.8m).

It wasenough to leapfrog the week older Wallace & Gromit: The Curse Of TheWere-Rabbit.

It isthe second week of triumph for the film, which enjoyed an 18% week-on-week risebetween its first and second weekends while all its school holidays rivals sawdeficits.

Whileit is the film's first week as leader of the UK/Ireland chart, it is worthnoting that it has seen particular success in the Republic Of Ireland, where ithas enjoyed the lead position for three consecutive weeks since its launch onOct 21.

In theRepublic Of Ireland, Nanny McPhee lookslikely to overtake Were-Rabbit.

McPheehas earned $1.98m (Euro 1.68m) in the mini-territory compared to $2.1m (Euro1.79m) for Were-Rabbit which has had a weeks longer play and benefited frompreviews.

Theresult is good news for Working Title whose previous attempt to cater for thefamily market was the poorly-received Thunderbirds, which grossed $9.5m (£5.4m) in the UK and Ireland.

McPhee does not hit othermarkets until next year with Universal's domestic release coming on January 27.