BVI's Finding Nemo may be available on pirate DVD, but it hasn't stopped cinema-goers rushing to see "the fish film", as some in the German industry have rather disparagingly called the blockbuster. Nemo's 1.3 m-plus admissions in the second weekend must seem like manna from heaven for the beleaguered exhibition sector, although it casts a shadow on the rest of the top 15.

Fox's new release Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World garnered glowing reviews for Peter Weir's meticulous attention to authenticity and atmosphere on an 18th battleship, but unfortunately this didn't translate into anything more than a respectable 243,982 admissions and a screen average of $3,189. Meanwhile, Clint Eastwood's Mystic River coming in at No. 9 took the best screen average of $ 4,966 after Nemo's $ 8,694, and Denys Arcand's Cannes hit The Barbarian Invasions could only muster 15,758 admissions to make No. 12.

At the same time, Soenke Wortmann's The Miracle Of Bern, which opened the Export-Union's Festival of German Cinema in London on 27 November, is now within reach of the 3m target set by Senator's distribution chief Benjamin Herrmann, and NFP teleart/UIP's release of Luther continues to astound with its staying power although admissions were down 34% over the previous week.