US screaming for new Jason movie

A re-make of the classic 1980 horror film Friday the 13th has topped the North American box office in its opening weekend.

The revival of the slasher franchise took $42.2m (£29.7m) over three days according to early figures.

It sets a new record for the horror genre, topping the $39.1m (£27.5m) debut for 2004's The Grudge.

The film updates the grisly story of hockey-masked killer Jason Voorhees and his rampage at a secluded summer camp.

The Friday the 13th series has been one of the most-enduring horror franchises, spawning 10 sequels, including crossover Freddy Vs Jason, pitting Voorhees against the killer from A Nightmare on Elm Street.

The movie bumped off the previous weekend's top earner, romantic comedy He's Just Not That Into You, which fell to number two taking $19.6m (£13.8m).

Kidnap thriller Taken, starring Liam Neeson, also fell one place to three in its third week, taking $19.3m (£13.5m).

New entries in the top 10 included Isla Fisher comedy Confessions of a Shopaholic at four and Clive Owen thriller The International at seven.

The top 10's three-day overall total of $190m (£133m) helped give Hollywood its best President's Day weekend ever, beating the previous best of $157.1m (£110.2m) over the same weekend in 2007.

"Hollywood seems to be unstoppable right now. With this notion of the recession helping the box office, I guess this is just another example of that," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Media By Numbers.

"People want to go to the movies and just have fun and escape."

Via bbc.co.uk