"Saw III", the third outing for psycho serial killer Jigsaw, has shot straight to the top of the box office chart across the pond. The film followed the pattern of its two predecessors by arriving in multiplexes across the globe without being shown to any critics pre-release, but the lack of reviews doesn't seem to have done it any harm: in the US the bloodthirsty flick, which stars Tobin Bell as the game-playing murderer, earned slightly more than $34 million over the weekend (October 27th - 29th), enough to convince studio Lionsgate to start planning "Saw IV", which is to arrive this time next year.
Martin Scorsese's gangster thriller "The Departed" held firm in second spot, while last weekend's No. 1 "The Prestige" - which stars Hugh Jackman and Christian bale as a pair of rival magicians - fell two places to third. Clint Eastwood's WW2 epic "Flags Of Our Flags" proved to be the country's fourth most popular film, and animated family comedy "Open Season" rounded out the Top 5.