The domestic box office continued to roar over the weekend. Not only did Universal's third sequel of the summer American Pie 2 open to a massive $45.1m but New Line Cinema's Rush Hour 2 took $31.5m in its second weekend bringing its ten day total to a spectacular $131.9m.

Meanwhile Miramax arm Dimension Films opened the Nicole Kidman chiller The Others to strong numbers - $14.1m on 1,678 screens - and re-opened its spring hit Spy Kids in a special edition format for a $1.4m gross.

Box office was up some 50% from the same weekend last year, indicating that - thanks to a strong August - the summer is set for a record-breaking total.

But there was also disappointment over the weekend for Warner Bros whose costly animated/live action mix Osmosis Jones flopped with just $5.6m in its first three days. The film - directed by the Farrelly Brothers - stars Chris Rock as a white blood cell in Bill Murray's body, but clearly failed to tickle audiences in the same way as There's Something About Mary in summer 1998.

For Universal, which has already scored three major hits out of three this summer in The Mummy Returns, The Fast And The Furious and Jurassic Park III, the success of American Pie 2 makes a full house, although next weekend's opener Captain Corelli's Mandolin hasn't got the same sure thing whiff as its studio-mates.

Opening in 3,063 sites, the film becomes the second-biggest R-rated opening ever after Hannibal, the biggest R-rated comedy opening ever and the third biggest comedy opening ever after Rush Hour 2 and Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.

Rush Hour 2 became the 11th film of the year to cross the $100m mark and should give New Line its second $200m hit after 1999's Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. Also holding well in its second weekend was Buena Vista's The Princess Diaries which took $14.1m and crossed the $50m mark.

Next weekend looks set to be the last big one of the season with Paramount opening its action comedy Rat Race opposite Corelli's Mandolin and western American Outlaws starring Colin Farrell for Morgan Creek/Warner Bros.

ESTIMATED TOP TEN US AUG 10-12

Film (Distributor) International distribution Estimated weekend gross Estimated total to date

1 (-) American Pie 2 (Universal) UIP $45.1m --

2 (1) Rush Hour 2 (New Line) New Line International $31.5m $131.9m

3 (3) The Princess Diaries (Buena Vista) BVI $14.1m $51.9m

4 (-) The Others (Dimension) StudioCanal $13.7m --

5 (2) Planet Of The Apes (20th Century Fox) Fox International $13.3m $148.7m

6 (4) Jurassic Park III (Universal) UIP $7.3m $160.2m

7 (-) Osmosis Jones (Warner Bros) Warner Bros $5.6m --

8 (5) America's Sweethearts (Columbia) Revolution/Columbia TriStar $4.6m $83.4m

9 (7) Legally Blonde (MGM) 20th Century Fox $3.8m $78.7m

10 (6) Original Sin (MGM) Hyde Park Entertainment $3m $12.5m