The Proposal tops US box office

The Proposal stars Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock

Disney's romantic comedy The Proposal has hit the top of the North American box office on its opening weekend, early estimates show.

The film, starring Sandra Bullock as a hard-nosed executive who coerces her assistant into a fake marriage to avoid deportation, took $34.1m (£20.7m).

It puts last week's number one, bachelor party film The Hangover, in second place with $26.9m (£16.3m).

Prehistoric comedy Year One opened at number four with $20.2m (£12.3m).

Animated comedy Up, a former number one about about a grumpy old man and a scout who travel to South America in a flying house, was at number three with $21.3m (£12.9m).

The top five was rounded out by subway hijacking thriller The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, which took $11.3m (£6.9m).

US AND CANADA BOX OFFICE

1. The Proposal - $34.1m

2. The Hangover - $26.9m

3. Up - $21.3m

4.Year One - $20.2m

5. The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 - $11.3m

Source: Hollywood.com (formerly Media by Numbers)

Box office receipts were slightly up at the weekend compared with the same period a year ago but that follows three weekends in a row of declining ticket sales.

Industry experts expect this to change with the forthcoming release of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen on Wednesday. The sequel starring Shia BeLeouf opened in the UK and Japan this weekend.

Woody Allen's latest comedy, Whatever, Works, performed strongly given its limited release. It took $280,720 (£171,059) in just nine cinemas over the weekend, making an average of $31,191 (£19,005) per cinema.

The Proposal made an average of $11,163 (£6,802) per cinema. It opened in over 3000 outlets.