Zero Dark Thirty tops N. American box office

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Zero Dark Thirty, Kathryn Bigelow's controversial film about the hunt for Osama bin Laden, stormed the top spot at the North American box office, preliminary figures showed on Sunday.

Zero Dark Thirty took a solid US$24 million (S$29.4 million) in its first weekend on national release, far outpacing two newcomers: comedy A Haunted House and Sean Penn crime saga Gangster Squad with US$18.8 million and US$16.7 million respectively.

They were trailed by Quentin Tarantino's brutal Western Django Unchained, in the fourth spot, which earned US$11.1 million according to box office tracker Exhibitor Relations.

Musical adaptation Les Miserables, took fifth place, raking in US$10.1 million.