Universal Pictures scoredits second number one bow in three weeks as 2 Fast 2 Furious roared to the top of the table on an estimated$52.1m.

The street racing sequel wasthe only new entry to break into a top 10 that contains four $100m-plus films,two of which have grossed more than $200m.

Overall the top 12 filmsgrossed an estimated $157m, representing a 52% rise against the same periodlast year and the third consecutive weekly rise against 2002 counterparts.

In 2 Fast 2 Furious Paul Walker reprises his role as an undercover cophell-bent on bringing down an illegal street racing circuit, this time inMiami.

Rapper Tyrese Gibson and EvaMendes co-star and the film was directed by John Singleton.

The film averaged $15,287from 3,408 sites and beat the $40.1m opening of The Fast And The Furious in 2001. After an opening like this, it certainlyhas a shot at passing the original's $144.5m final total.

Despite poor reviews and theabsence of Walker's original co-star Vin Diesel, audiences flocked to theatres,proving it is the cars and the remarkable stunts that are the real stars here.

Exit polls revealed 75% ofthe audience was aged under 25 and a 55%-45% male-female divide.

The film's real coup was itsethnic appeal, however, with Hispanics accounting for roughly 38% of ticket buyersand blacks making up 16%.

Close behind in second placewas Disney/Pixar's Finding Nemoon a superb $45.8m in its second week that raised the animated yarn's runningtotal to $143.3m. It averaged an excellent $13,506 from 3,391 theatres.

Universal's comedy BruceAlmighty slipped one to third on$21.7m for $170.8m in its third week, while Paramount's The Italian Job slid one to fourth on $13.3m for $40.1m in itssecond.

Warner Bros' The MatrixReloaded fell one to fifth on $9.1m for$247.7m in its fourth week.

Twentieth Century Fox's X2:X-Men United passed $200m last week.Over the weekend it remained in seventh place, adding $3.1m for $204.3m.

Next week's releases includeColumbia/Revolution's Hollywood Homicide, starring Harrison Ford and Josh Hartnett; New Line's comedy prequel DumbAnd Dumberer, starring EricChristian Olsen and Derek Richardson; and Paramount's animated familyadventure, Rugrats Go Wild.

EstimatedTop Ten US Jun 6-8, 2003

Film (Distributor)/Internationaldistribution/Estimated weekend gross/Estimated total to date

1 (-) 2 Fast 2 Furious (Universal) UIP $52.1m --

2 (1) Finding Nemo (Disney/Pixar) BVI $45.8m $143.3m

3 (2) Bruce Almighty (Universal) Spyglass/BVI $21.7m $170.8m

4 (3) The Italian Job (Paramount) UIP $13.3m $40.1m

5 (4) The Matrix Reloaded (Warner Bros) Warner Bros/Village Roadshow $9.1m$247.7m

6 (5) Daddy Day Care (Columbia/Revolution) CTFDI $4.8m $88.7m

7 (7) X2: X-Men United (Fox) Fox International $3.1m $204.3m

8 (6) Wrong Turn (Fox) Summit Entertainment $2.7m $9.7m

9 (8)The In-Laws (WarnerBros/Franchise) Franchise Pictures $2m $17.9m

10 (11) Bend It LikeBeckham (Fox Searchlight) The Works$975,000 $20.6m