Cloudy with a Chance... storms US box office

Animated comedy Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs has debuted at the top of the US box office charts after its first weekend on release.

The Sony/Columbia production, which tells of an inventor who converts rain into food in a bid to solve world hunger, took $30.1 million (£18.6 million) in its first three days to comfortably take the number one spot.

Corporate comedy The Informant!, starring Matt Damon as an inept whistleblower, debuted in second while Jennifer Aniston's new romantic effort Love Happens opened in fourth.

Though last week's number one, Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All By Myself, slipped to third, it still outperformed horror Jennifer's Body, which debuted in a disappointing fifth despite its starring role for Transformers actress Megan Fox and a script from Oscar-winning Juno writer Diablo Cody.

Dark animation 9 fell two places to sixth, with Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds falling four places to seventh.

The top ten films at the US box office are: (last week's position)

1 Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs (-)
2 The Informant! (-)
3 I Can Do Bad All By Myself
4 Love Happens (-)
5 Jennifer's Body (-)
6 9 (2)
7 Inglourious Basterds (3)
8 All About Steve (4)
9 Sorority Row (6)
10 The Final Destination (5)