Columbia TriStar's hit romantic comedy Maid In Manhattan held strong in the UK this weekend to take the top spot for the second week running. The film kept a host of new releases at bay, including UIP's death row drama The Life Of David Gale which claimed second place.

Maid In Manhattan dropped off 39% from its opening weekend to take $2m (£1.3m) putting it well in the lead. Playing at 422 sites the Jennifer Lopez vehicle scored an average of $4,821 and now has a 10-day total of $7.3m.

Alan Parker's The Life Of David Gale, opened with a three-day weekend of $1.15m (£725,698). Showing at 343 locations the film, which stars Kevin Spacey and Kate Winslet, managed an average of $3,358. The only opener to better this average was limited release foreign-language title The Son (Le Fils) from Artificial Eye, which claimed $10,230 (£6,445) from just three sites - an average of $3,410.

Opening in fourth, with $873,714 (£550,440) from 292 sites, was Momentum Pictures sci-fi title Equilibrium, starring Christian Bale. 20th Century Fox's Barbershop, a comedy starring Ice Cube, opened at 100 locations to land in 14th place with $231,335 (£145,741).

Meanwhile despite strong reviews and a cast featuring Drew Barrymore, Julia Roberts and himself, George Clooney's directorial debut, Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind managed just sixth place for BVI. The film, which stars Sam Rockwell as US game show host Chuck Barris, took $566,068 (£356,623) from 201 sites for an average of $2,816.

Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind fared better in London's West End where it was placed second - behind Entertainment's Far From Heaven - with a weekend haul of $127,195 (£80,133) from 12 locations, an average of $10,600.

Still playing in the top five were UIP's horror The Ring ($1.1m for third place) and Warner Bros' romantic comedy Two Weeks Notice ($590,232 for fifth).

Overall it proved to be a weak weekend at the box office with the total weekend take of the top 15 films dropping 30% from last weekend and 9% on the same weekend last year - when Ocean's Eleven led Monsters, Inc. and 13 Ghosts and The Royal Tenenbaums launched.