A fantasy film about a make-believe world of monsters has entered the US and Canada box office at number one.Where The Wild Things Are made $32.5m (£19.9m) in its first weekend, beating Jamie Foxx thriller Law Abiding Citizen into a second place debut.
The film, which mixes live action and animation, is based on the children's book by Maurice Sendak, but audiences were predominantly made up of adults.
Ghost flick Paranormal Activity was also a new entry at number three.
The film - shot in the style of a documentary - is said to have made a box office impact due to word-of-mouth interest and has been compared to 1999 hit The Blair Witch Project.
US BOX OFFICE TOP FIVE
1 Where The Wild Things Are - $32.5m
2 Law Abiding Citizen - $21.3m
3 Paranormal Activity - $20.2m
4 Couples Retreat - $17.9m
5 The Stepfather - $12.3m
Source: Hollywood.com
It beat the debut Sony's bigger budget horror movie The Stepfather into fifth spot.
It is due to be expanded into more cinemas at the weekend where it will go head-to-head with established horror franchise outing Saw VI.
The adaptation of Where The Wild Things Are, directed by Spike Jonze, features the voices of Forest Whitaker and James Gandolfini.
The story's main protagonist is a boy who journeys to a land populated by monsters who are torn between hugging him and having him for dinner.
