Detective drama The Recruit, starring Al Pacino and rising Irish star Colin Farrell, has taken the top spot in the latest United States box office chart.

The film, in which the pair root out corruption within the agency, was the most popular of three new entries that filled the top places at the weekend.

Farrell turned up to the film's première with Britney Spears

The Recruit took $16.5m (£10m) between Friday and Sunday, according to initial estimates, as last week's number one, horror Darkness Falls, fell to number five.

The weekend also saw The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers overtake the $313m (£191m) total notched up by the first Lord of the Rings movie, The Fellowship of the Ring.

In The Recruit, Pacino plays a CIA trainer and Farrell is one of the country's top graduates who is taken on to track down a mole in the agency.

US TOP FIVE FILMS

1. The Recruit - $16.5m 2. Final Destination 2 - $16.2m 3. Biker Boyz - $10.1m 4. Kangaroo Jack - $9m 5. Darkness Falls - $7.5m Source: Exhibitor Relations

Dublin-born Farrell, 26, has starred in Minority Report and Hart's War since moving on from BBC One show Ballykissangel, and is seen as one of Hollywood's hottest prospects.

He caused a stir and upstaged his co-star at the US première of The Recruit last week when he turned up with singer Britney Spears on his arm.

The Recruit edged out another new entry, thriller sequel Final Destination 2, which took $16.2m over the weekend.

That film follows the same pattern as Final Destination, which was a hit in 2000, in which a group of teens cheat death before realising that death is determined to catch up with them.

In third place, motorcycle racing movie Biker Boyz earned $10.1m, while former number one Kangaroo Jack slipped to fourth with $9m.