New York  - Where the Wild Things Are, the film version of the classic children's book by Maurice Sendak, topped the US box office over the weekend.

Director Spike Jonze's much-anticipated film earned 32.5 million dollars in its opening weekend.

The adaptation of the richly illustrated picture book with only nine lines of text combines lives scenes with computer animation and puppets. It cost 90 million dollars and was in the works for five years, but many critics described the work as too scary for young children and called it an artistic film for adults.

Second place went to Law Abiding Citizen starring Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler with 21 million dollars, while independent, budget horror pic Paranormal Activity continued its surprise success to earn 20 million dollars.

Last week's top movie, the comedy Couples Retreat fell to fourth place with 18 million dollars. Horror flick The Stepfather rounded out the top five with 12.3 million dollars. (dpa)