High kicks and glamour in the Charlie's Angels sequel

Female action sequel Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle has gone straight to the top of the United States box office chart.

The hit film based on the 1970s TV detective series knocked Ang Lee's adaptation of the Hulk off the number one spot after just one week.

Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, starring Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu, took an estimated $38m (�23m) over the weekend.

However, the takings were $2.1m (�1.3m) down on the opening figures for the first film in November 2000 despite opening in more cinemas than the original film.

Hulk, about the well-known comic book character, faced a big drop in box office receipts, falling from $62.1m (�37.6m) in its opening weekend to $18.4m (�11.1m) in its second.

NORTH AMERICAN BOX OFFICE TOP FIVE 1. Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle 2. The Hulk 3. Finding Nemo 4. 28 Days Later 5. Bruce Almighty Source: Exhibitor Relations

Universal executive Nikki Rocco said she was disappointed with the second weekend's figures for the film, but added that it would still make a profit.

Finding Nemo, an animation feature about a young fish who goes missing from home, is still going strong in third place with $13.9m (�8.4m).

British thriller 28 Days Later took fourth place, grossing $9.7m (�5.9m), despite playing in only a third of cinemas compared to the big blockbuster releases.

The collaboration between Danny Boyle, who directed Trainspotting and writer of The Beach, Alex Garland, was released in the UK last year.

US box office takings fell for the third weekend in a row. The top 12 films grossed an estimated $111.3m (�67.4m), down 15% from the same weekend last year.

The highly anticipated Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines is released on Wednesday, ahead of the Fourth of July holiday weekend.

Rocco said the market was uneasy at the moment.

"There's a little malaise out there in the business. Hopefully in the next few weeks it will pick up again," she said.