LOS ANGELES, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- Lionsgate's horror film "Jigsaw" topped North American box office in pre-Halloween weekend with an estimated 16.25 million U.S. dollars debut, demonstrating the latest success of horror genre this year.
Directed by Australian directors -- the Spierig brothers -- with a production budget of only 10 million U.S. dollars, "Jigsaw" is the eighth film in the "Saw" franchise that has earned nearly 900 million dollars globally.
It's set a decade after the death of the eponymous Jigsaw killer, during the police investigation of a new succession of murders that fit his modus operandi.
"One of the lowest grossing weekends of the year was led by yet another horror movie as 'Jigsaw' was perfectly timed to take advantage of the Halloween spirit and follows in a long line of successful modestly budgeted hits from the massively popular genre in 2017," wrote movie analyst Paul Dergarabedian at comScore in an email to Xinhua.
Another Lionsgate's low-budget Halloween offering "Boo 2! A Madea Halloween" took the second place with an estimated 10 million dollars in its second weekend, pushing its total to 35.52 million dollars through Sunday after 10 days in North American theaters.
Directed by and starring Tyler Perry, the comedy horror film is the sequel to "Boo! A Madea Halloween" and the 10th film in the Madea series. Perry created and performs the Madea character, a tough elderly black woman.
Warner Bros.' environmental disaster thriller "Geostorm" came in third with an estimated 5.67 million dollars in its second weekend.
Universal's release of Blumhouse's slasher film "Happy Death Day" landed in the fourth place with an estimated 5.09 million dollars in its third weekend.
Warner Bros.' science fiction film "Blade Runner 2049" finished fifth with an estimated 3.96 million dollars in its fourth weekend.
