Eminem at No 1

Will the real film star please stand up? Eminem has proved he can cut the movie star mustard by topping the US movie charts with his film debut 8 Mile. Taking an impressive $54.5 million in its first weekend, Eminem's thinly-veiled autobiographical tale of a young white rapper struggling in the black-dominated hip-hop scene of Detroit's bleak Eight Mile has obviously succeeded in appearing no mere celebrity vehicle designed purely to shift more tunes. Abandoning the Mariah Carey school of pop stars throwing themselves at the big screen in such appalling pap as Glitter, the talent behind this movie's not to be underestimated. Directed by L.A. Confidential's Curtis Hanson, produced by the Oscar-winning Brian Grazer of A Beautiful Mind fame and also boasting a fine turn by Kim Basinger as Eminem's white trash mother, the film reportedly packs a decent-sized dramatic punch as well as some storming tracks. Averaging a whopping $22,050 a cinema in America, the movie will have its first screening at the London Film Festival this week and will open in Britain in February. A long wait we know, but we have a slight inkling it might be worth it.