Sci-fi action-thriller Minority Report has delivered an impressive opening in the UK this weekend for 20th Century Fox.

Opening at 426 sites the film scored $5.9m (£3.9m) over the three-day weekend (July 5-7) for a mighty average of $13,844 per site. Added to the $961,190 (£631,502) from 422 sites it claimed on Thursday July 4 - its official opening day - the film amassed a four-day gross of $6.9m (£4.5m).

While the opening may not be in the same league as the more family oriented blockbusters Star Wars: Episode II - Attack Of The Clones (which claimed a four-day opening of $17.3m from 467 sites, also for Fox) or Columbia TriStar's Spider-Man ($14.3m including three days of previews) it is still a triumph for all concerned and the fifth biggest opening of the year so far.

Report also dethroned Spider-Man, which was knocked to second place in its fourth week with $2.2m (£1.45m) - a drop of 44% from last week.

Minority Report provided director Steven Spielberg with his biggest hit in years, easily outshining the openings of last year's A.I. Artificial Intelligence, which claimed $3.5m (£2.3m) from 428 sites, and 1998's Saving Private Ryan which saw figures of $4.1m (£2.7m) from 423 sites. The film is Spielberg's third highest UK opening ever behind 1997's The Lost World: Jurassic Park ($8.6m) and 1993's Jurassic Park ($7.4m).

It also brought star Tom Cruise one of his biggest openings, coming second to Mission: Impossible 2 - which claimed $7.0m (£4.6m) at 461 sites over the same weekend in 2000. Minority Report easily outstripped the opening of Cruise's earlier 2002 film, Vanilla Sky, which launched in January with $4.5m (£2.98m) at 425 sites.