Aniston's box office joy

Film

13:30 06 June 2006

Jennifer Aniston's new movie 'The Break Up' is number one at the US box office - despite being panned by critics.

The romantic comedy - which stars the former 'Friends' actress and her real life boyfriend Vince Vaughn - made $38.1 million in its first three days of release.

The movie also gives Aniston her first real taste of box office success.

Previous releases 'Derailed' and 'Rumour Has It' made a total of just $36 million and $43 million respectively.

Despite being a hit with audiences, 'The Break Up' has been savaged by film critics.

The Wall Street Journal asked: "What's a smart comedienne doing in such a dumb movie?"

Another critic sniped: "A romantic comedy that is both short on romance and comedy."

The movie was originally also panned by test audiences.

A source said earlier this year: "The original screenplay had Jennifer and Vince's characters breaking up at the end. So it was shot that way - but test audiences hated it. It tested really badly."

The lead actors were forced to re-shoot parts of the film at a cost of millions.

(C) BANG Media International