The studio behind Star Wars has admitted it overestimated the opening weekend takings of its latest intergalactic adventure.

Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones took $80m (�54.8m) from Friday to Sunday, $6m (�4.1m) less than 20th Century Fox had projected at the end of the weekend.

But the alteration of the figures does not change its standing as the number one movie in the US or its place as the third biggest opener of all time.

It does mean that it trails even further behind the record set by Spider-Man, starring Tobey Maguire, released two weeks earlier.

Spider-Man will be released in UK on 14 June

The film adaptation of the superhero cartoon raked in $114.8 (�78.7m) in its opening three days, breaking the record set by Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone which reached $90.2 (�60.1m) in November.

Mixed reviews

Attack of the Clones was eagerly awaited by the legion of fans director George Lucas has built up since the first Star Wars in 1977.

So far it has received mixed reactions from the critics with some saying it is the best so far while others have hammered Lucas for a poor script and a weak plot.

The new Star Wars managed to reach the $100m mark in four days.

From the four days since its release on 16 May Attack of the Clones has taken $110.2m (�75.5m), although just the three day weekend sales that are recorded for the box office chart.

But Star Wars is not the only film to have been affected by the alterations in box office figures.

Spider-Man's takings have also been revised by $1m, taking it down to $45m (�30.8m) for the weekend.

Fox said the difference in the figures for Star Wars were due to basing estimates on the patterns of how The Phantom Menace performed.

But ticket sales for the new one had dropped off further than expected from Friday to Sunday.