Troy (J. Larose) in a scene from the movie 'Saw III'. Contributed photos

LOS ANGELES (AP):

Halloween came early at movie theatres as 'Saw III' sliced up the competition with a US$34.3 million (J$2.2 billion) debut, the best opening yet for the gory horror franchise.

Lionsgate's Saw III easily took over as number one at the box office, bumping off Disney's duelling-magicians saga The Prestige, which slipped to third place with US$9.6 million (J$633 million), according to studio estimates Sunday. The Prestige raised its 10-day total to US$28.8 million (J$1.9 billion).

Martin Scorsese's mob tale The Departed held strongly again, taking in US$9.8 million (J$648 million) to place second for the third-straight weekend. The Warner Bros. film lifted its total to US$91.1 million (J$6 billion).

Revenues for The Departed were down just 27 per cent from the previous weekend, compared to 35 per cent for The Prestige and 38 per cent for Clint Eastwood's World War II epic Flags of Our Fathers, which was number four with US$6.35 million (J$419 million).

Slow start for flags

Paramount's Flags of Our Fathers, which cost US$90 million (J$5.9 billion) to produce, has got off to a slow start, raising its 10-day total to US$19.9 million (J$1.3 billion). The acclaimed film still could follow the pattern of Eastwood's last two movies, Mystic River and Million Dollar Baby, which became hits on the strength of Academy Awards buzz.

Focus Features' South African drama Catch a Fire premiered weakly with US$2 million (J$132 million) in 1,306 theatres, averaging US$1,541, (J$101,706) compared to US$10,830 (J$714,780) in 3,167 cinemas for Saw III.

Apartheid system

Catch a Fire stars Derek Luke and Tim Robbins in the story of a black family man driven to rebel against South Africa's apartheid system in the 1980s.

The far-flung drama Babel, whose ensemble cast includes Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, had a huge opening in limited release, grossing US$365,801 (J$24 million) in just seven theatres. The film traces the consequences of a tragedy in the desert on families in Africa, Mexico and Japan. Distributor Paramount Vantage plans to open Babel nation-wide on November. 10.

The Dixie Chicks documentary Shut Up & Sing debuted solidly in limited release, taking in US$50,798 (J$3.3 million) in four theatres. Released by the Weinstein Co., the film explores the furor after lead singer, Natalie Maines, told a London concert crowd on the eve of the Iraq war in 2003 that the music trio was ashamed President George W. Bush was from Texas, their home state.

Hollywood remained on a box-office roll, with business up for the fifth-straight weekend. The top-12 movies took in US$89.1 million (J$5.8 billion), up 2.4 per cent from the same weekend last year, when Saw II opened at number with US$31.7 million (J$2 billion).

Since the low-budget Saw debuted with US$18.3 million (J$1.1 billion) over the same weekend two years ago, Lionsgate has turned the franchise into an annual ritual with quickly produced sequels each Halloween.

The movies follow the diabolical schemes of psycho killer Jigsaw (Tobin Bell), who stages elaborate, bloody games to test the moral fiber of his victims. Lionsgate plans to have Saw IV in theatres over Halloween weekend next year.

"It's the biggest no-brainer of the century to put these movies out on Halloween weekend and wait for the money to roll in," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations.