Romantic comedy Sweet Home Alabama has stormed straight to the top of the North American box office, taking $37.5m (�24m), according to box officer tracker Exhibitor Relations.

Reese Witherspoon plays a top New York fashion designer who returns to her deep south hometown seeking a divorce.

The Legally Blonde star is one of Hollywood'sd hottest properties and helped the film to break the opening weekend record for September, despite critics' jibes.

Witherspoon plays a fashion designer

Josh Lucas plays the estranged childhood sweetheart reluctant to agree to a divorce in the comedy named after the Lynyrd Skynyrd jukebox favourite.

It displaced Barbershop at the top after a two-week run for the story of a neighbourhood hairdressers threatened by loan sharks.

The movie dropped to third place with Jackie Chan's latest kung fu-espionage fusion film The Tuxedo, entering at number two with $15.1m (�9.66m).

Barbershop earned $10.1m (�6.43m), despite a welter of criticism from Reverend Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson.

Cuts refused

Mr Sharpton is even considering organising a boycott of the film because of a scene in which one of the characters makes jokes about American black civil rights legends Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks.

MGM, the studio responsible for the film, has refused pleas to have the scene cut from any future versions of the film.

Top Five

1. Sweet Home Alabama 2. The Tuxedo 3. Barbershop 4. My Big Fat Greek Wedding 5. The Banger Sisters

Despite only a moderate budget of $12m (�7.7m), word of mouth is said to have contributed to its $51.4m (�32.9m) gross, with a significant level of success among black cinemagoers.

Sleeper hit phenomenon My Big Fat Greek Wedding, was at number four with $9.8m (�6.27m) taking its gross to $136.9m (�87.12m) over 24 weeks.

September, not usually a happy hunting ground for new movies, saw the overall box office rise 37% from the same month last year, when America was reeling after the terror attacks.