War Horse has had a victory with its opening weekend at the UK box office.

Steven Spielberg's epic trotted into the top spot with takings of £3.9 million – nearly three times the box office numbers of runner-up The Iron Lady. 

His World War I drama also beat last year's British triumph, The King's Speech, which had figures of £3.3 million for its opening weekend. 

Delighted Steven said: "This is my first British movie, through and through. To me, War Horse is a timeless story about the sacrifices of love.

"It's about the sacrifices a boy makes in a time of war to find his horse and the sacrifices the horse makes just trying to survive this dark episode in history."

photo:© warhorsemovie.com