Eminem's 8 Mile Debuts At No. 1 At The Box Office With $54.5 Million

NEW YORK (Top 40 Charts) - Eminem's 8 Mile debuts at No. 1 at the box office with $54.5 million in first weekend sales, making him the second artist to have a No. 1 album and a No. 1 movie in the same week.

Last week, the soundtrack to the semi-autobiographical movie, which features new tracks from Eminem, Macy Gray, Jay-Z, and others, debuted at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 with more than 700,000 in first-week sales. Last year, Jennifer Lopez became the first artist to have a No. 1 album (J.Lo) and a No. 1 movie (The Wedding Planner) in the same week.

8 Mile's opening was the second-highest opening weekend ever for an R-rated movie. Hannibal, featuring Anthony Hopkins, ranks as the top R-rated opening with $58 million.

Runaway success

Meanwhile, the soundtrack to the film - also called 8 Mile - was placed at number one in the US album chart, having sold 702,000 copies.

The album, which features tracks from Jay-Z, Nas, Gang Starr and Macy Gray, beat Christina Aguilera's new album Stripped and Nirvana's greatest hits collection.

The soundtrack is Eminem's second top-seller this year after the runaway success of his blockbuster CD The Eminem Show, which sold 1.32m in its first full week of release earlier this year.

Although he has been described as a misogynist and a homophobe, critics have been full of praise for Eminem's acting debut, describing him as a natural.

8 Mile sees him star as an angry young white man named Jimmy "Rabbit" Smith Jr.

Loosely based on Eminem's real life story, 8 Mile focuses on a critical week in the life of Jimmy in which he raps his way to redemption, supported by a cast that includes Kim Basinger as his mother and Brittany Murphy as the love interest.