Expendables 2 kicks box office butt

Los Angeles - Action movie Expendables 2 muscled to the top of box office charts over the weekend, beating three new competitors at theatres in the United States and Canada.

Expendables 2 rang up $28.8m from Friday through Sunday, distributor Lions Gate Entertainment said. The movie unites 1980s tough guys Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and others in a sequel to a 2010 hit spy film.

Last week's winner, action movie The Bourne Legacy starring Jeremy Renner, slipped to the No 2 spot with $17m. Comcast's Universal Studios released the film.

In third place, 3D stop-motion movie ParaNorman, earned $14m and the No 4 spot. In the film, a boy named Norman, who speaks to ghosts and ghouls, works to save his town from an impending zombie apocalypse.

The movie was produced by Laika studio, the team behind the critically acclaimed 2009 fantasy animation film Coraline.