John Cusack and Amanda Peet star in the thriller

Movie thriller Identity, starring John Cusack, has ended the two-week reign of Jack Nicholson's Anger Management at the top of the US box office chart.

Identity pulled in about $17m (�10.6m) at the box office in its first three days - $1m more than the Nicholson and Adam Sandler comedy.

Overall, ticket sales fell to their lowest level for more than five months as the box office gears up for the release of summer blockbusters including X-Men 2 and The Matrix Reloaded.

According to tracking firm Exhibitor Relations, the top 12 films earned $78.6m (�49.2m) - down 11% from last weekend.

The top 10 contained three other new releases. The most popular was Confidence, a crime thriller starring Edward Burns and Dustin Hoffman, which opened at number five.

Nicholson played Sandler's anger management therapist

It Runs in the Family, the first on-screen collaboration between Michael Douglas and his father, Kirk, entered the chart at a disappointing ninth spot.

The comedy also stars Michael Douglas' mother and son.

It was followed The Real Cancun, a reality film revolving around a group of drunk teenagers on holiday in the Mexican resort.