The remake of Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead dominated the charts with a solid debut through TriStar Pictures in a nostalgic North American session that also produced a solid number four launch for Universal’s Jurassic Park 3D.

While Raimi’s 1981 cult horror grossed something like $2.4m in US theatres – ushering in what would become a legendary ancillary career – the horror reboot from Raimi and Rob Tapert’s Ghost House Pictures and Sony took an estimated $26m in its opening session.

Fede Alvarez, who thus far has only made short films, directed the feature after Raimi and Tapert wasted little time setting up a blind deal when they saw his acclaimed 2009 sci-fi Panic Attack. It will be intriguing to see what the number one result does for the Uruguayan’s career.

Raimi and business partner Rob Tapert produced Evil Dead with Bruce Campbell, the star of the original. FilmDistrict distributes in North America in association with TriStar and Sony Pictures Releasing International distributed in 21 territories over the weekend, grossing an estimated $4.5m.

Paramount, MGM and Skydance Productions’ G.I. Joe: Retaliation slipped to number two and stands at $86.7m through Paramount by the end of its second weekend, while DreamWorks Animation’s The Croods in third place through Fox has amassed $125.8m after three.

Universal released Jurassic Park 3D in fourth place on a very solid $18.2m from 2,771 theatres. The original opened in 1993 and finished on $357.1m.

Approximately $6m of the opening sum came from 312 IMAX screens for a typically impressive $20,000 average, which IMAX said marked a new record for a re-release. Further, the 32% share represented IMAX’s highest percentage of an overall North American weekend gross.

Harmony Korine’s Spring Breakers ranks 11th through A24 and stands at an excellent $12.6m following a $1.2m session. SPC launched The Company You Keep starring Robert Redford, Brit Marling, Shia LaBeouf and Julie Christie on $146,000 from five sites for a superb $29,200 per-site average.

Fox Searchlight opened Danny Boyle’s thriller Trance starring James McAvoy on $136,000 from four sites for a formidable $34,000 average.

Next weekend’s wide releases are Dimension Films’ Scary Movie 5 through The Weinstein Company and Warner Bros’ sports drama 42 starring Harrison Ford.

Estimated Top 10 North America Apr 5-7 2012
Film (Dist) / Est wkd gross / Est total to date

1 (-) Evil Dead (TriStar) SPRI $26m –
2 (1) G.I. Joe: Retaliation (Paramount-MGM) PPI $21.1m $86.7m
3 (2) The Croods (DreamWorks Animation-Fox) Fox Int’l $21.1m $125.8m
4 (-) Jurassic Park 3D (Universal) UPI $18.2m –
5 (4) Olympus Has Fallen (FilmDistrict) Nu Image $10m $71.1m
6 (3) Tyler Perry’s Temptation: Confessions Of A Marriage Counselor (Lionsgate) Lionsgate Int’l $10m $38.4m
7 (5) Oz The Great And Powerful (Buena Vista) WDSMPI $8.2m $212.8m
8 (6) The Host (Open Road) Inferno Entertainment $5.2m $19.7m
9 (7) The Call (TriStar) Sierra/Affinity $3.5m $45.5m
10 (8) Admission (Focus Features) FFI $2.1m $15.4m

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