Freddy Krueger (left) and Jason Voorhees returned with a US hit

The film had been expected to make around $20m (�12.7m) in its first three days by movie analysts, but instead made more than $36.4m (�23.1m).

The movie, which pairs Freddy Krueger from the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise and Jason Voorhees from the Friday the 13th films, has already covered its $30m (�19.1m) production budget, according to the figures from analysts Exhibitor Relations.

Top five North American films 1. Freddy Vs Jason 2. Swat 3. Open Range 4. Freaky Friday 5. Uptown Girls Source: Exhibitor Relations

Last week's number one, Swat, the 1970s TV remake starring Colin Farrell and Samuel L Jackson, was at number two after making $18.6m (11.8m) in the last three days.

The film has now taken more than $70.1m (�44.6m) in the US and Canada.

In third place was the Kevin Costner-directed western film Open Range, which opened with a weekend figure of $14.1m (�8.98m).

In fourth was the Jamie Lee Curtis comedy Freaky Friday, which made $13.1m (�8.34m) after falling two places in the charts.

Nine-year wait

And Brittany Murphy comedy Uptown Girls debuted in fifth place, starring the 8 Mile actress as a nanny working for a spoiled child. It made $11.2m (�7.1m).

Box office takings over the weekend were 3.6% higher than they were last week, and 33.2% higher than the same period last year, when the charts were topped by the Vin Diesel action film XXX.

Freddy Vs Jason's success has come after nearly a decade in development - the film was first planned in 1994.

"The core fans have been waiting (almost) 10 years for us to get our act together and make this thing," said David Tuckerman, president domestic theatrical distribution president at New Line, who produced the film.