(Reuters) - "Evil Dead," the blood-drenched remake of the 1981 horror classic, "The Evil Dead," scared up $26 million in its first weekend to win the box office race, slashing past another familiar story, the 3D re-release of Steven Spielberg's 1993 dinosaur blockbuster, "Jurassic Park."
The supernatural story of five twenty-something friends who battle demons in a remote cabin, "Evil Dead" far surpassed industry projections of about $20 million for the film following a strong $1.8 million in midnight showings on Thursday.
Last weekend's box office leader, "G.I. Joe: Retaliation," fought its way into a virtual tie with animated Stone Age comedy "The Croods," now in its third week in theaters, with each taking in $21.1 million, according to estimates from Hollywood.com's box office division.
The 3-D "Jurassic Park" re-release was fourth with $18.2 million in ticket sales, and "Olympus Has Fallen" rounded out the top five with sales of $10 million.
(Reporting By Ronald Grover and Chris Michaud; Editing by Sandra Maler)