Here are the estimates at the North American Box Office for this past weekend:

1. High School Musical 3: Senior Year $42,000,000
2. Saw V $30,500,000
3. Max Payne $7,600,000
4. Beverly Hills Chihuahua $6,916,000
5. Pride & Glory $6,325,000
6. The Secret Life of Bees $5,935,000
7. W. $5,330,000
8. Eagle Eye $5,136,000
9. Body Of Lies $4,065,000
10. Quarantine $2,550,000

Two new openers obliterated the rest of the films at the box office this weekend, and the total box office in general took a massive jump skyward compared to last weekend.

HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 3: SENIOR YEAR is another major win for Disney, bringing in an estimated 42 million, a phenomenal number and a testament to Disney's assessment of the inbuilt audience for this franchise. Disney has had a good year releasing a number of lower budget films to big numbers and this is another to add to the list.

It wouldn't be October without a Saw film, and the fifth entry in the franchise SAW V shows no signs that the franchise is slowing. Opening to an estimated 30.5 million, the film is a big win for distributor Lionsgate who only paid 10.8 million to produce it. SAW VI is on the way folks, get used to it.

The rest of the top 10 was swept away in the landslide towards the top 2 films. Most notable MAX PAYNE took a direct hit, tumbling to third spot to gross an estimated 7.6 million for a 29.6 million total. This isn't too bad as the film cost 35 million to make so it's likely to get its budget back before the end of its domestic run.

The remaining films got pushed down a spot or two to make way for the huge openings of the number one and two films this weekend.

The North American box office took in a total of 120.5 million for the weekend 24-26 October 2008.