Texas Chainsaw 3D hacks its way to No 1

Los Angeles - It took Leatherface and his chainsaw to chase tiny hobbit Bilbo Baggins out of the top spot at the box office.

Lionsgate's horror sequel Texas Chainsaw 3D debuted at No 1 with $23m, according to studio estimates on Sunday. The movie picks up where 1974's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre left off, with masked killer Leatherface on the loose again.

Quentin Tarantino's revenge saga Django Unchained held on at No 2 for a second-straight weekend with $20.1m. The Weinstein Co release raised its domestic total to $106.4m.

After three weekends at No 1, part one of Peter Jackson's The Hobbit trilogy slipped to third with $17.5m. That lifts the domestic haul to $263.8m for The Hobbit, the Warner Bros blockbuster that also has topped $500m overseas to raise its worldwide total to about $800m.

Also passing the $100m mark over the weekend was Universal's musical Les Miserables, which finished at No 4 with $16.1m, pushing its domestic total to $103.6m.

Texas Chainsaw 3D is set for release in South Africa on 31 May.

Watch the trailer here: