Horror thriller "The Grudge" continued its rule at North America box office for the second straight weekend, according to studio estimates issued Sunday.

The film, which was adapted from Japanese horror movie "Jo-On,"earned about 22.4 million US dollars during the Halloween weekend, according to its distributor Columbia Pictures.

The 10-million-dollar movie grossed 71.3 million dollars after 10 days in release, and Columbia Pictures expected its gross to pass the 90 million-dollar mark.

"Ray," starring Jamie Foxx, debuted at No. 2 with 20.1 million dollars, while the low-budget thriller "Saw" followed with 17.4 million dollars.

Rounding out the Top Five were the animation hit "Shark Tale," which took No. 4 place with 8 million dollars, and Jennifer Lopez's movie "Shall We Dance?," which made 6.3 million dollars.

Nicole Kidman's new movie "Birth" opened at only No. 11 with 1.7 million dollars. Kidman is the latest Oscar-winning actress to have a tough time at the box office this year, following Halle Berry ("Catwoman") and Charlize Theron ("Head in the Clouds").

Overall sales for the top 12 films increased about 3 percent to 92.8 million dollars from the year-ago weekend, but the tally was 5 percent down from last weekend, when "The Grudge" shocked everyone by opening with 39.1 million dollars.