Joan Allen is The Contender

Winona Ryder, Richard Gere and Gary Oldman each have new films in the top 10, while British film Billy Elliot debuted on just 10 screens in the US.

The satanic thriller Lost Souls, which stars Ryder, performed the best of the new releases, opening at number three with a modest $8.4m (�5.7m).

Ryder plays a devout Catholic who tries to stop the devil from taking over the body of a crime author, played by Ben Chaplin.

Lost Souls is the feature-film directing debut of Oscar-winning cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, who won his Academy Award for Schindler's List.

US box office

1. Meet the Parents (�14.6m) 2. Remember the Titans (�9.2m) 3. Lost Souls (�5.7m) 4. The Ladies Man (�3.9m) 5. The Contender (�3.7m) 6. The Exorcist (�3.7m) 7. Dr T & The Women (�3.5m) 8.Get Carter (�1.8m) 9. Best In Show (�1.6m) 10. Almost Famous (�1.5m)

Billy Elliot has started its assault on the US market, earning $220,000 (�150,000) on 10 screens in the country.

Distributor Fox hopes to build up favourable reception to the film before releasing it nationwide.

The Ladies Man, a comedy based on a Saturday Night Live sketch, grossed $5.7m (�3.9m), and stars Tim Meadows and British comedian Lee Evans.

The Contender, a political thriller starring Gary Oldman and Joan Allen, earned $5.5m (�3.7m) and entered the chart at number five.

The film is mired in controversy after Oldman claimed in an interview with Premiere magazine that film studio DreamWorks paid to turn The Contender into a pro-Democratic movie.

He claimed the film was edited to match the political persuasion of studio owners Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen, all well-known Democrat supporters.

Robert Altman's Dr T & the Women, an ensemble comedy starring Richard Gere as a Dallas gynaecologist, earned $5.2m (�3.5m) over the weekend.