"Dupree" clings to UK box office top spot

LONDON, Sep 6 (Reuters) Three's-a-crowd comedy ''You, Me and Dupree'' clung to the UK top box office spot over the weekend, just fending off fast-rising newcomer ''Little Man,'' according to Screen International figures.

Dupree, starring Owen Wilson as a perpetual bachelor intruding on the wedded bliss of Kate Hudson and Matt Dillon, took 1.16 million pounds, according to statistics given yesterday.

Sony's ''Little Man'' comedy, in which a man keen to be a father mistakes a short, baby-faced criminal as his adopted son, raked in 1.09 million pounds.

New at three was the remake of the 1973 cult horror movie, ''The Wicker Man,'' starring Nicolas Cage as an investigator confronted by pagan rituals on an island off the coast of Maine.

At four was another newcomer ''The Sentinel,'' a secret service thriller involving an inside plot to kill the US president and starring Michael Douglas and Kiefer Sutherland.

Fifth down one place was Disney/Pixar's animated ''Cars'' and sixth, down three, was ''Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest,'' which has now taken over 51 million pounds during its nine weeks in the charts.

At seven, down two places, was animated kids' horror ''Monster House.'' New at eight was ''Crank'' with Jason Statham as a Los Angeles hitman who wakes up to find he has been poisoned. If he keeps his adrenaline levels up, he may slow the poison's action long enough to find his would-be killers.

Ninth down from eight was Spanish director Pedro Almodovar's ''Volver'' and at 10 down from second place was the week's fastest faller, cult thriller ''Snakes on a Plane.'' REUTERS SAM RK0930