Martin Lawrence and Will Smith reunite for Bad Boys II

Bad Boys II, the latest in a run of summer sequels, took $46.7m (�29.4m) in its opening weekend, according to studio estimates, eight years after the original was released.

Swashbuckling adventure Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, featuring Johnny Deep and Kiera Knightly sailed down to number two.

The top two films were both produced by Hollywood heavyweight Jerry Bruckheimer, with Pirates taking $33.3m (�20.9m) in its second week.

US top five 1. Bad Boys II 2. Pirates of the Caribbean 3. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen 4. Johnny English 5. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines

And it was a strong week for cinema with a 34% increase on the same period last year.

Sean Connery's latest movie The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen was at number three with receipts of $10.1m (�6.3m) in its second week.

The movie is based on a comic book series which sees characters such as Captain Nemo, Tom Sawyer, Dorian Gray and Allan Quartermain team up to battle evil.

At four was the spoof spy comedy Johnny English, starring Rowan Atkinson as the hapless secret agent, which took $9.3m (�5,8m), adding to the $117m (�73.7m) it has earned outside the US.

And at number five was Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, the third in the Arnold Schwarzenegger action series.