Platinum Dunes' horror remake The Texas Chainsaw Massacre slaughtered the opposition as it openednumber one on an estimated $29.1m over the weekend. Platinum Dunes is the lowbudget film outfit of mega-budget director Michael Bay which has a productiondeal at Ted Field's Radar and therefore Focus Features handles sales of itsfilms. New Line Cinema acquired domestic rights to the film.

The chiller, which centers on a group of youngsters whose carbreaks down near a house of cannibals, averaged $9,648 from 3,016 sites.

Marcus Nispel's remake of the1974 slasher classic stars Jessica Biel and Jonathan Tucker.

Miramax'sKill Bill Vol 1 dropped one placeto second, adding $12.5m for $43.3m in its second week.

Opening third on $12.1m and mixed reviews was the legal thriller RunawayJury, which stars GeneHackman, Dustin Hoffman, John Cusack and Rachel Weisz.

Gary Fleder directed the film,which averaged $4,298 from 2,815 sites.

Warner Bros' acclaimed murder drama Mystic River, directed by Clint Eastwood, expandedwide in its second week and climbed 12 places to fifth, adding $10.4m for a$13.4m total.

Tim Robbins, Sean Penn and Kevin Bacon lead an all-star cast inthe tale of three grown-up friends who remain under the shadow of a traumaticchildhood incident.

Although it no longer inhabits the top 10 Buena Vista's PiratesOf The Caribbeancontinues to make the news as it passed $300m, becoming only the second titleof the year to do so after stablemate Finding Nemo, which was co-produced with Pixar.

This is the first time a studio has released two $300m-plus domesticgrosser in the same year.

Overall box office for the top12 titles was $105.3m, up 43% from the same period last year.

Next weekend's releases include Paramount's romantic drama BeyondBorders, starringAngelina Jolie and Clive Owen; Columbia's sports drama Radio, starring Ed Harris, Cuba Gooding Jr anda rare appearance by Debra Winger; and Miramax's horror spoof Scary Movie 3, which stars Charlie Sheen and QueenLatifah.

Estimated Top Ten US Oct 17-19 2003

Film (Distributor)/International distribution/Estimated weekendgross/Estimated total to date

1 (-) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (New Line) Focus/Radar $29.1m -

2 (1) Kill Bill Vol 1 (Miramax) Miramax International $12.5m $43.3m

3 (-) Runaway Jury (Fox) Fox International $12.1m -

4 (2) School Of Rock (Paramount) UIP $11.3m $55.2m

5 (17) Mystic River (Warner Bros) Warner Bros $10.4m $13.4m

6 (3) Good Boy! (MGM) Fox International $9m $25.8m

7 (4) Intolerable Cruelty (Universal) UIP $6.9m $23.1m

8 (5) Out Of Time (MGM/UA) Fox/Focus $4.1m $35.3m

9 (8) Under The Tuscan Sun (Buena Vista) BVI $3.4m $33.7m

10 (7) The Rundown (Universal) CTFDI $2.8m $44.6m