Michael Jackson film tops UK box office

LONDON (Reuters Life!) - The Michael Jackson concert movie "This Is It" topped Britain's box office over the weekend, according to Screen International on Tuesday, knocking Disney's "Up" off the No. 1 spot after three weeks.

The footage of Jackson's rehearsals for a planned series of 50 shows in London took 4.87 million pounds ($7.9 million). Worldwide, the movie has made $103.9 million, according to figures from its studio, Columbia pictures.

Disney-Pixar's Up -- which took 6.4 million pounds on its debut UK weekend -- was down in second place with its animated story of a cranky old man on a balloon-powered adventure.

The stop-motion animated version of Roald Dahl's "Fantastic Mr Fox," was unchanged at three while blood-soaked horror offering "Saw VI" slipped to four from second.

The latest film to cash in on the vampire craze, "Cirque Du Freak: the Vampire's Assistant," was unchanged at five.

"Couples Retreat," the story of four couples trying to heal their relationships at a New Age therapeutic resort, was down at six from four.

Animated sci-fi movie "9" came in at seven with the apocalyptic tale of puppets fighting to the death with an army of exterminating machines.

Another newcomer, 1960s coming-of-age tale "An Education," made its debut at eight, just above director Terry Gilliam's "The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus" which fell to nine from six.

British gangster film "Dead Man Running," with rapper Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, was new at 10.

(London newsroom;stephen.addison.reuters.com@reuters.net)