Box-office chart

Surrounded as it is by puppies, metaphysical space opera and Austrians in Santa suits, Anthony Minghella's The English Patient has to be the surprise package of the season. Michael Ondaatje's decidedly abstract novel is not perhaps the most obvious Hollywood template, but it is well documented what a good-looking, artsy European cast can do to an American at Christmastide. The film is rumoured to be good, too.

TOP 10 US

1 (1) 101 Dalamatians ($63,690,609) US

2 (-) Daylight ($10,014,795) US

3 (2) Star Trek: First Contact ($71,146,315) US

4 (4) Jingle All the Way ($38,080,639) US

5 (5) Ransom ($112,913,186) US

6 (3) Space Jam ($73,356,183) US

7 (7) The English Patient ($13,219,641) US

8 (6) The Mirror Has Two Faces ($37,166,009) US

9 (8) Set It Off ($32,388,683) US

10 (9) William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet ($41,668,083) US