NICOLAS Cage has topped the US box office yet again with suspense thriller Knowing, which took a healthy $24.8 million in its first three days despite strong competition from other new releases.

The film, directed by Alex Proyas (of I, Robot fame), finds Cage playing an astrophysics professor who unwittingly cracks the code of 50 years’ worth of dates, death tolls and co-ordinates of every major disaster in perfect sequence, before becoming aware of another impending disaster.

Rose Byrne costars in the time-warp tale, that was initially penned by novelist Ryne Douglas Pearson.

Commenting on the figures, Richie Fay, president of Summit distribution, said: “The opening came in at about where we thought we would be, maybe a tad higher. We’re very, very pleased.”

Knowing comfortaly beat two other high-profile openers in the form of Paul Rudd’s R-rated comedy I Love You, Man, which took second spot with $18 million, and the Clive Owen-Julia Roberts’ spy thriller Duplicity, which came in third with $14.4 million.

In total, this weekend’s movies amassed $107 million at the US box office, which actually represented a 6% dip compared with an Easter 2008 weekend topped by two $20 million-plus performers.

Knowing opens in UK cinemas this Wednesday (March 25, 2009), with I Love You, Man following in April. Duplicity is currently on release.

• Delicious
• Digg
• Reddit
• Facebook
• Stumbleupon