happy death day
Jessica Rothe as Tree Gelbman in Happy Death Day (2017) IMDB

Horror film "Happy Death Day" is celebrating a first place finish at the box office this weekend while the "Blade Runner" sequel spirals downward.

Studio estimates on Sunday (15 October) show "Happy Death Day," a Groundhog Day-like thriller, earned $26.5 million for Blumhouse and Universal Pictures, the shops behind "Get Out" and "Split."

The story follows student Tree Gelbman, as she relives the day of her terrifying murder until she discovers her killer's identity.

It is released in the UK on Friday 20 October, just in time for Halloween.

"Blade Runner 2049" meanwhile fell to second place in its second weekend in cinemas, taking in only $15.1 million after a disappointing debut.

Jackie Chan's "The Foreigner" opened this weekend to $12.8 million from 2,515 locations to take third place.

Other new releases landed outside the top 10. The Thurgood Marshall biopic "Marshall" took in $3 million and "Professor Marston and the Wonder Woman" earned only $737,000 from over 1,200 locations.