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

1. High School Musical 3: Senior Year $15,035,000
2. Zack and Miri Make a Porno $10,682,000
3. Saw V $10,110,000
4. Changeling $9,407,000
5. The Haunting of Molly Hartley $6,009,000
6. Beverly Hills Chihuahua $4,747,000
7. The Secret Life of Bees $4,000,000
8. Max Payne $3,700,000
9. Eagle Eye $3,400,000
10. Pride & Glory $3,260,000

There was some very peculiar behaviour at the box office this past weekend, most notably because Halloween was on Friday. If you compare Friday to the overall weekend, you'll see some drastic differences in the places the films occupied, but the net effect was to reduce the overall box office down further in another unspectacular weekend.

HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 3 lands in top spot for the second weekend in a row, despite having a very poor Friday. Obviously, all the kids were out for Halloween and then managed to get back in the theatres on Saturday and Sunday. The film has grossed 61.7 million so far.

Kevin Smith's new film, ZAK AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO lands in second spot. The title itself seemed to spark interest, and of course it's a Kevin Smith film so this is a decent return.

SAW V dropped to third spot, adding another 10 million to the coffers to take its total to 45.8 million. The film only cost 10.8 million so this is a huge win, but one has to cast doubt on its enduring appeal now given that the fans did not come out in droves to support it on Halloween.

The Clint Eastwood/Angelina Jolie film CHANGELING had a decent haul of 9.4 million after starting in limited release. It's hard to say where this one will go, and may have a longer run over time given its release pattern.

The last new opener, designed to cash in Halloween weekend, is THE HAUNTING OF MOLLY HARTLEY which opened with a so-so 6 million. Like with SAW V, the film wasn't able to capture the Halloween crowd and will likely disappear very soon.

The remainder of the top 10 contains the returning films, all with similar drops compared to last weekend.

The North American box office took in a total of 75.1 million for the weekend 31st October to 2 November 2008.