Americans went back to the movies over the weekend as three new films opened well and box office was up 52% on last weekend and 26% up on the same weekend last year.

20th Century Fox's psychological thriller Don't Say A Word, produced by New Regency Productions, was the box office champion over the weekend, taking $18m. Directed by Gary Fleder and starring Michael Douglas as a psychiatrist whose daughter is abducted by ex-cons who need him to extract a six digit number from one of his patients. It co-stars Britanny Murphy, Sean Bean, Oliver Platt and Famke Janssen.

Second, with $15.7m, was Zoolander, Paramount/VH1 FIlms' comedy feature based on a comic male model character created by Ben Stiller for music network VH1. Stiller co-wrote, directed and starred in the film. Co-stars include Stiller's wife Christine Taylor, his father Jerry Stiller and Owen Wilson. Its screen average was $6,262 just $400 per screen less than Don't Say A Word.

The third opener was Warner Bros' Hearts In Atlantis, produced by Castle Rock Entertainment, which grossed $9.5m for the number three slot. Directed by Scott Hicks and starring Anthony Hopkins, it is scripted by William Goldman from a short story by Stephen King about a mysterious man who moves in above a single mother and her son one summer. Playing at 1,751 sites, it had a screen average of $5,445.

The three openers dominated the box office, although Paramount's Hardball and Dimension's The Others continued to pull audiences, taking over $5m apiece. The Others has now grossed $87m and is set to top the $100m mark in the next month.

Opening next weekend and hoping to keep the upward trend at the nation's box office are four wide releases - Miramax's romantic comedy Serendipity, Warner Bros' delayed police drama Training Day, Buena Vista's family comedy Max Keeble's Big Move and 20th Century Fox's teen thriller Joy Ride.

ESTIMATED TOP TEN US SEPT 28-30
Film (Distributor)/International distribution/Estimated weekend gross/Estimated total to date
1 (-) Don't Say A Word (20th Century Fox) Fox International/Regency $18m --
2 (-) Zoolander (Paramount) UIP $15.7m --
3 (-) Hearts In Atlantis (Warner Bros) Warner Bros $9.5m --
4 (1) Hardball (Paramount) Fireworks Pictures $5.2m $26.3m
5 (2) The Others (Dimension) StudioCanal $5.1m $87m
6 (5) Rush Hour 2 (New Line) New Line International $2.7m $219m
7 (3) The Glass House (Columbia) Columbia TriStar $2.1m $15m
8 (7) Rat Race (Paramount) Fireworks Pictures $1.8m $54m
9 (4) The Musketeer (Universal) MDP Worldwide $1.7m $25.5m
10 (6) Two Can Play That Game (Screen Gems) Columbia TriStar $1.6m $20.6m