Extra-terrestrial Mel Gibson crop circle thriller Signs has gone straight to the top of the UK box office chart, taking almost �4m.

It dwarfed the takings for Matt Damon espionage action movie The Bourne Identity which took just �1,100,700 to take second place behind Signs' �3,767,700.

Despite mixed reviews, M Night Shyamalan's latest has had good takings on both sides of the Atlantic.

UK/Irish Republic top 5

1) Signs 2) The Bourne Identity 3) Insomnia 4) The Importance of Being Earnest 5) The Guru Source: Screen International

Borrowing heavily from Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Gibson plays an ex-clergyman who has to defend his house against aliens causing crop circles in his fields.

The circles continue to fascinate sci-fi fans despite having being dismissed as a hoax, with those allegedly responsible for the early 1990s phenomenon owning up.

Insomnia was the other victim of Signs' success, with the Alaska-set crime drama dropping to number three with �477,000.

The British remake of The Importance of Being Earnest held onto the fourth spot with �429,000.

The Oliver Parker film, starring Colin Firth, Rupert Everett and Dame Judi Dench, has shrugged off poor reviews to post encouraging takings.

The only other new entry in the top 10 was teen romance A Walk to Remember starring US singer Mandy Moore, at the number seven spot with takings of �246,860.

The Importance of Being Earnest is holding on

Spider-Man continues its extended run in the chart after its reclassification as a 12A.

On the back of its fresh publicity drive it took �219,400 to rise one place to number eight some 14 weeks after it first entered the chart.

Once Upon a Time in the Midlands, starring Robert Carlyle, Rhys Ifans, Kathy Burke and Ricky Tomlinson, drops off the chart after entering at number 15 last week.

It was replaced by Pedro Almodovar's Talk to Her re-entering the chart, despite showing at just 57 sites.