The Fog was made for $18m

The Fog took $12.2m (�6.9m) over the weekend, edging out Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, which made $11.7m (�6.6m).

The horror remake tells the story of a town visited by the ghosts of its past.

But Wallace and Gromit topped of the box office outside the US for a second week, taking $26.4m (�15m) globally.

It made its debut in the UK with $11.3m (�6.4m), opened in France on $2.9m (�1.65m), Germany on $2.3m (�1.3m) and Austria with $225,000 (�128,000), according to trade website Screen Daily.

US AND CANADA BOX OFFICE 1. The Fog - $12.2m 2. Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit - $11.7m 3. Elizabethtown - $11m 4. Flightplan - $6.5m 5. In Her Shoes - $6.1m Figures are for Fri-Sun. Source: Exhibitor Relations

The international box office figures include all territories, except the US and Canada.

In North America, Elizabethtown starring Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst, opened at number three, behind Wallace and Gromit.

The romantic comedy, directed by Jerry Maguire and Vanilla Sky film-maker Cameron Crowe, has disappointed critics and took $11m (�6.2m) over the weekend.

Jodie Foster's thriller Flightplan slipped to fourth and In Her Shoes, starring Cameron Diaz, dropped to number five.

Keira Knightley's latest film Domino, in which she plays the real-life model-turned-bounty hunter Domino Harvey, could only open at number six.

Low-budget

Box office business continued to slump, with the weekend's top 12 films earning $72.2m (�41m) - down 18% on the same weekend last year.

"This was not a weekend destined to be a blockbuster weekend. Really, really slow," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box office tracking company Exhibitor Relations.

"Audiences seemed somewhat indifferent again. That's the scary part for the industry."

Although $12.2m would be relatively low for a blockbuster, it is seen as a success for The Fog because it is a low-budget film with lower expectations.

The Fog stars Tom Welling, who plays Clark Kent in Smallville, and Lost actress Maggie Grace.