LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Gruesome slasher movie "Saw IV" butchered the competition at the North American box-office at the weekend, slicing and dicing its way to top spot, industry figures showed Monday.
The Lionsgate bloodfest, again featuring Tobin Bell as murderer Jigsaw, pulled in 31.8 million dollars on its opening weekend in the United States and Canada, according to figures from box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations.
The strong opening for the film bucked the theory that US audiences have grown weary of the recent "torture-porn" phenomenon, which saw a crop of ultra-violent movies post respectable takings before tapering off.
In second spot was another debut, family comedy "Dan in Real Life," in which a widower advice columnist -- Steve Carrell -- falls in love with a woman -- Juliette Binoche -- who turns out to be his brother's girlfriend.
The Disney picture pulled in 11.9 million dollars for its opening weekend.
Last week's top film, vampire flick "30 Days of Night," held up for third in the rankings, bringing in 6.9 million to raise its two-week gross earnings to 27.5 million.
Fourth for the weekend was Disney football comedy "The Game Plan," which took 6.3 million to bring its five-week earnings to 77 million dollars.
Scoring fifth was another Lionsgate film, "Why Did I Get Married," in its third week in the theaters. Director Tyler Perry's comedy-drama, starring pop music princess Janet Jackson, earned 5.6 million dollars, for a total of 47.2 million since it opened.
Rounding out the top 10 were: "Michael Clayton" (4.9 million), "Gone Baby Gone" (3.8 million), Tim Burton's "The Nightmare Before Christmas," a 3-D re-release of the 2000 hit, which took in 3.4 million dollars, "We Own the Night" (3.4 million) and "The Comebacks" (3.4 million).
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