Paramount’s action vehicle for Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton led a slow session at the box office in which the top 12 fell around 25% against the previous weekend and 10% against the same session in 2012.

Norway’s Tommy Wirkola, whose credits include Dead Snow, directed Hansel & Gretel and the new arrival had too much for the competition.

Universal’s genre release Mama fell to number two on $12.9m for $48.6m while TWC’s Silver Linings Playbook and Annapurna Pictures’ Zero Dark Thirty, released in North America through Columbia Pictures, both reached $69m and continued their steady progress in the top five.

The Jason Statham-Jennifer Lopez crime thriller Parker directed by Taylor Hackford landed in fifth place through FilmDistrict on a lacklustre $7m. Sierra/Affinity handles international sales.

Relativity Media’s all-star comedy mash-up Movie 43 opened in seventh place on a dismal $5m, although a strong ancillary life seems assured given the calibre of the cast.

Fox 2000’s Life Of Pi ranks number 14 and stands at $103.5m after 10 weekends in North America and more than $525m worldwide factoring in the international run.

Next weekend’s wide releases include Bullet To The Head starring Sylvester Stallone through Warner Bros and Summit’s Warm Bodies with Nicholas Hoult.

Estimated Top 10 North America Jan 25-27 2012
Film (Dist) / Est wkd gross / Est total to date

1 (-) Hansel And Gretel: Witch Hunters (Paramount) PPI $19m

2 (1) Mama (Universal) UPI $12.9m $48.6m

3 (3) Silver Linings Playbook (TWC) TWC International $10m $69.5m

4 (2) Zero Dark Thirty (Columbia Pictures) Panorama/Universal $9.8m $69.9m

5 (-) Parker (FilmDistrict) Sierra/Affinity $7m –

6 (7) Django Unchained (TWC) SPRI $5m $146.3m

7 (-) Movie 43 (Relativity Media ) Relativity $5m –

8 (4) Gangster Squad (Warner Bros) WBPI $4.2m $39.4m

9 (5) Broken City (Fox) Inferno $4m $15.3m

10 (8) Les Misérables (Universal/Working Title) UPI $3.9m $137.2m