Iron Man sweeps to top of box office

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LONDON (Reuters) - Superhero blockbuster "Iron Man" took the box office by storm over the weekend, knocking Russell Brand’s debut movie off top spot after only one week.

Iron Man, with Robert Downey Jr as the weapons manufacturer with a conscience and Gwyneth Paltrow as his assistant, took a huge 5.4 million pounds, according to Screen International.

"Forgetting Sarah Marshall," an Hawaii-based romantic comedy with Brand playing a rock star alongside Jason Segal and Kristen Bell was down in second spot.

"Nim’s Island" was new at three, with "Little Miss Sunshine" star Abigail Breslin stretching critics’ credulity to the limit as a young girl living on a desert island.

Coming in at four was the week’s third newcomer, romantic comedy "Made of Honour" with "Grey’s Anatomy" heart-throb Patrick Dempsey as a playboy agonizing over marriage.

Down three places at five was horror thriller "The Eye" with Jessica Alba as a blind concert violinist able to see the dead.

Also down three, at six, was casino caper "21" while gangster movie "In Bruges" was down two at seven.

Biggest faller of the week was "Fool’s Gold," with Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey as a pair of bickering treasure hunters, which was down in eighth spot from .....continued below

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Director Mike Leigh’s "Happy Go Lucky," starring Sally Hawkins as a chirpy primary school teacher, was up one at nine while up four places at 10 was "Persepolis," a story of a young girl’s life in Iran during the 1979 Islamic revolution.