DreamWorks' romantic comedy JustLike Heaven was the number onepicture of the weekend following an estimated $16.5m launch, while Lions Gate'saction title Lord Of War openedin third place on a so-so $9.2m.

Meanwhile last weekend'schampion, Screen Gems' The Exorcism Of Emily Rose, slipped to second place on $15.3m for a commendable$52m after 10 days.

The only other new releasewas Rogue Pictures' horror title Cry_Wolf which had a lacklustre launch through the Rogue genre label, as overallbox office kept aloft autumn spirits by climbing 13% against the same weekendlast year.

In Just Like Heaven, which drew mixed reviews, Reese Witherspoon playsthe tenacious spirit of a comatose woman who seduces the tenant of her formerapartment. Mark Ruffalo also stars in Mark Waters' picture, which averaged$4,703 on 3,508 screens.

Nicolas Cage plays agunrunner who suffers a crisis of conscience in Lord Of War, which also stars Ethan Hawke and Jared Leto. Thecritics were divided over the merits of the film, which averaged $3,269 on2,814 screens.

Cry_Wolf failed to make much of an impression on film-goers orcritics as it opened in fifth place on $4.6m to poor reviews. Julian Morrisplays a campus prankster whose hoax becomes true when students startdisappearing. Jeff Wadlow's picture averaged $2,542 on 1,790 screens.

Universal's comedy The40-Year-Old Virgin fell two placesto fourth and is approaching the $100m mark after adding $5.8m for $90.6m inits fifth weekend, while Fox's action sequel The Transporter 2 fell three to sixth, having grossed $36.5m afterthree.

WiP's sensationaldocumentary run continued as March Of The Penguins climbed one to ninth in its 13th weekend and raisedits running total to $70.4m. New Line's Wedding Crashers has amassed $203.6m after 10 weekends and ranks 10th.

Next weekend's wide releasesare: Buena Vista's thriller Flightplan starring Jodie Foster and Peter Sarsgaard; Fox Searchlight's comedy RollBounce starring Chi McBride; andWarner Bros' Tim Burton's Corpse Bride, featuring the voice talents of Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter.

Estimated Top Ten US Sept16-18 2005

Film(Distributor)/International distribution/Estimated weekend gross/Estimatedtotal to date

1 (-) Just Like Heaven (DreamWorks) UIP $16.5m -

2 (1) The Exorcism OfEmily Rose (Screen Gems) LakeshoreEntertainment $15.3m $52m

3 (-) Lord Of War (Lions Gate) Arclight $9.2m -

4 (2) The 40-Year-OldVirgin (Universal) UIP $5.8m $90.6m

5 (-) Cry_Wolf (Rogue) Focus Int'l $4.6m -

6 (3) The Transporter 2 (Fox) Europa Corp $4m $36.5m

7 (4) The ConstantGardener (Focus) Focus Int'l $3.7m$24.4m

8 (5) Red Eye (DreamWorks) UIP $2.9m $55.2m

9 (10) March Of ThePenguins (WiP) Wild Bunch $2.6m$70.4m

10 (8) Wedding Crashers (New Line) New Line Int'l $2.5m $203.6m