Saw 3D slashes records to be No 1

 LOS ANGELES: Saw 3D has topped the Halloween box office on both sides of the Atlantic - and also carved out a world record in the process.

The final instalment in the series - about psychokiller Jigsaw's legacy of bloody terror - took 24.2 million dollars in its opening weekend in US cinemas and £3.3million in ticket sales in Britain, according to studio Lionsgate.

And Saw has become the Guinness World Records' most successful horror franchise, receiving over seven million cinema admissions and
selling over two million DVDs in the UK to date.

The latest instalment, the seventh film in the series starring Tobin Bell and Costas Mandylor, has proved to be the most successful ever, earning a 30% higher opening weekend than any other in the franchise's history

"Last year, a lot of people said, 'OK, that's it. Put a fork in it, it's done,'" said David Spitz, head of distribution for Lionsgate. "The following week, we were all disappointed and thought, what can we do to reinvigorate the franchise? So we shot the movie in 3D and said this is the final chapter."

It paid off, though Saw 3D still brought a modest return compared to earlier chapters in the Saw series, whose second, third, fourth and fifth movies all topped 30 million dollars over opening weekend in the US.

Saw 3D also had a soft debut compared to the previous weekend's No 1 movie, Paramount's Paranormal Activity 2, a newer fright franchise that opened with 40.7 million dollars. Paranormal Activity 2 slipped to No 2 this weekend, raising its total to 65.7 million dollars.