Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson shot to fame as a wrestler

The Disney movie took $22.7m (£11m), leaving its rival - starring Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Garner - trailing in second place with $17.7m (£8.6m).

Last week's number one, Resident Evil: Extinction, suffered a 66% slump in ticket sales and fell to number three.

Cinema takings dropped for a second weekend following a record summer.

'Pent-up demand'

The top 12 films made a total of $76.7m (£37.4m) - down 11% compared to the same weekend last year.

Paul Deragabedian, president of Media By Numbers who assess the US box office, said: "It would be really difficult to maintain three, four months of 'up' box office, so this was kind of inevitable."

NORTH AMERICAN BOX OFFICE 1. The Game Plan - $22.7m 2. The Kingdom - $17.7m 3. Resident Evil: Extinction (pictured) - $8m 4. Good Luck Chuck - $6.3m 5. 3:10 To Yuma - $4.2m Source: Media By Numbers

He added that last autumn was strong, "so we're having a little trouble competing".

The Game Plan is about a footballer whose life is distrupted by the arrival of a daughter he never knew existed.

Its star is former wrestler Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, better known as an action hero.

"There was definitely pent-up demand for people who don't necessarily want to go to the heavy 'R-rated' films," according to Chuck Viane, the head of distribution for Disney.

Elsewhere, the only other entry in the top 10 was Beatle-themed musical film Across the Universe.