"Saw III" buzzes at box office

LOS ANGELES - The horror franchise "Saw III" dismembered the competition to seize the Halloween box office in North America for the third straight year.

Meanwhile, Clint Eastwood's acclaimed World War Two drama "Flags of Our Fathers" suffered heavy casualties at the ticket counter despite reinforcements from more theaters.

According to studio estimates issued on Sunday, "Saw III" sold $34.3 million worth of tickets since opening October 27. The three-day sum compares to an opening of $31.7 million for "Saw II" a year earlier, and $18.3 million for "Saw" in 2004.

As with the other "Saw" movies, the latest revolves around an ailing serial killer, Jigsaw (played by Tobin Bell), with a penchant for inventing ingenious methods of torture. Darren Lynn Bousman, the director "Saw II," returned for the new film, working from a script by Leigh Whannell, who wrote all three.

Budgeted at under $10 million, it was released by Lionsgate, a unit of Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., which said it was the highest opening for an R-rated movie since "Troy" ($48.9 million) in May 2004. The film also bucked a recent trend that has seen horror franchises such as "The Grudge" and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" suffer diminishing returns with their latest installments.

Martin Scorsese's surprise smash "The Departed" held at No. 2 for a third week with $9.8 million, taking the total for the gangster thriller to $91.9 million. Originally billed as a populist movie with no plans for an Oscar campaign, the Warner Bros. release is now building awards buzz for the performances of its high-profile cast led by Jack Nicholson and Leonardo DiCaprio.

The studio, a unit of Time Warner Inc., expects the film to pass $125 million, before any benefit from actual awards attention, becoming the biggest of Scorsese's career. His best performer to date is 2004's "The Aviator," which ended up with $103 million.