Top five US films

1. The Grinch 2. Unbreakable 3. 102 Dalmatians 4. Rugrats in Paris 5. Charlie's Angels

The Grinch is based on the fantastical tales of much-loved US children's author Dr Seuss. It has taken more than $170m ($118m) at the US box office.

The rankings for the American top 10 are virtually unchanged on last week, following one of the busiest Thanksgiving periods on record.

Major studios have held off releasing new films because of the intense competition between the top three films, according to box office analysts.

"This year and last year, we have the same sort of situation; we didn't have anything going into wide release the first week of December," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations, which tracks movie industry revenues.

He added: "The strategy is that it's so competitive you'd better let the market cool off before you bring in more wide releases."

Next week the kidnapping drama, Proof of Life, starring Meg Ryan and Russell Crowe is released, as well as Dungeons and Dragons, which is based on the popular fantasy board game.

Ang Lee's film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which has already been tipped as a potential Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film, is given a limited release in the US from next week.