SA-made Chronicle tops US box office

Los Angeles - Superhero film Chronicle leaped to the top of the North American box office on its debut, estimates showed on Sunday, telling the story of three high school students who acquire incredible powers.

Chronicle, which garnered positive reviews from critics and was filmed on location in Cape Town, brought in $22m in box office receipts, according to industry tracker Exhibitor Relations.

Coming in a close second was another debut, horror film The Woman In Black starring British actor Daniel Radcliffe, famous for his long run in the Harry Potter saga.

Vampire warrior

The dark film, which was first a novel and then a classic stage play, finds Radcliffe as a young lawyer visiting a remote village where he investigates how residents are terrorised by the ghost of a vengeful woman. It made $21m at the box office.

Slipping from last week's top spot was The Grey, a Liam Neeson drama about plane crash survivors in Alaska fending off hungry wolves, which took in $9.5m.

The adventure thriller came just ahead of another Alaska-set film Big America, this one a feel-good animal flick starring Drew Barrymore helping to save a family of grey whales, which made $8.4m.

Underworld: Awakening, the fourth in the series about the exploits of a woman vampire warrior played by Kate Beckinsale, dropped to the fifth spot, starring Kate Beckinsale and pulling in $5.6m.

In sixth was Katherine Heigl comedy One for the Money that chalked up $5.2m in its second weekend. In seventh was Red Tails recounting the heroic World War 2 deeds of black Tuskegee Airmen pilots, with $5m.

The Descendants took the eighth spot with $4.6m, with the George Clooney family drama maintaining a surge in ticket sales in its 12th week in cinemas after being nominated for best picture, best director and best actor for the upcoming Oscars.

Thriller Man on a Ledge was ninth, netting $8m on its second weekend in cinemas , ahead of the Oscra-nominated Tom Hanks drama Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, which made $3.9 million.

Watch the Chronicle trailer below: