The Dukes of Hazzard has topped the US box office chart, taking $30.5m in its opening three days.

Based on the hit television series that ran from 1979-85, the movie is written by Jonathan Davis, with revisions by John O'Brien and Broken Lizard.

Set in present day, the story follows the adventures of "good old boy" cousins, Bo (Seann William Scott) and Luke (Johnny Knoxville) Duke, who try and save the family farm from being destroyed by Hazzard County's corrupt commissioner Boss Hogg (Burt Reynolds).

The film also stars US pop sensation Jessica Simpson and country music singer Willie Nelson.

Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn's The Wedding Crashers, which held the top spot last weekend, slipped back to second. The David Dobkin film has taken $132.4m in the US and Canada since its release four weeks ago.

Tim Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory fell into third place. The Warner Bros. release has earned $158.5m in four weeks at the North American box office.

Disney's Sky High, featuring Kurt Russell and Kelly Preston, dropped to number four, followed by John Cusack and Diane Lane's romantic comedy Must Love Dogs.

French documentary March of the Penguins moved up four places to sixth.

Stealth, a film about navy pilots taking on a rogue drone plane, fell three to seventh in the US chart.

The cloning thriller The Island was also down three places to number ten.