MUMBAI: Moviegoers went wild for Warner Bros.’ Where the Wild Things Are during the weekend, corralling an estimated $32.5 million atop the domestic box-office in an opening that outpaced even bullish expectations for the children’s book adaptation.

The Overture Films-distributed crime thriller Law Abiding Citizen similarly exceeded expectations, bowing with $21.3 million in second place.

A third wide opener — Sony Screen Gems’ horror thriller The Stepfather — debuted softly with $12.3 million in fifth place.

Paramount’s expansion of Paranormal Activity into wide release went abnormally well as the low-budget ghost story scared up a mind-bending $20.2 million from just 760 theaters to nab third place on the frame. Paranormal totes a $33.7 million cume ahead of a planned further expansion Friday.

Universal’s ensemble comedy Couple’s Retreat fell just 48% in its sophomore session to $17.9 million in fourth place. The leggy performance by Couples advanced its 10-day cume to $63.3 million.

The weekend’s top 10 finishers collectively rung up almost $127 million, or a big 59% more than top performers during a comparable frame last year, according to Nielsen EDI.

In a limited bow, Vivendi Entertainment’s romantic-drama anthology New York, I Love You unspooled in 125 locations and grossed $372,107, or an acceptable $2,976 per site.

Apparition bowed urban action spoof Black Dynamite in 70 theaters and grossed $140,986, or a muted $2,014 per venue.

Elsewhere in the specialty market, Focus Features added 76 playdates for a total of 82 for the Coen brothers’ A Serious Man and grossed $860,257. That represented an encouraging $10,491 per engagement and shaped a $1.9 million cume for the well-reviewed dark comedy.

Sony Pictures Classics’ Colin Firth starrer An Education added 15 theaters for a total of 19 and grossed $266,044, or an impressive $14,002 per venue, with cume of $504,974.