NTSC USER

Vin Diesel's Riddick beat Lee Daniels' The Butler to the top spot this weekend at the US box office.



The franchise returned after a nine year hiatus, grossing more that $18m in its opening weekend.

The sci-fi thriller, that sees Riddick up against an alien race of predators, surpassed The Butler's $8.9m earnings.

Instructions Not Included came in third place with $8.1m this weekend, after trading places with We're the Millers ($7.9m), who fell into fourth place.

The family animation Planes landed in the fifth spot after taking home $4.2m, while One Direction: This is Us trailed closely behind with $4.1m.

Falling into the bottom spots, Matt Damon's Elysium lost traction, taking in just $3.1m in the number seven spot, followed by Blue Jasmine's jump up from twelfth place to the eighth spot with $2.6m.

The US weekend box office top ten in full:
1. (-) Riddick - $18,673,000
2. (-) The Butler - $8,900,000
3. (4) Instructions Not Included - $8,100,000
4. (3) We're the Millers - $7,925,000
5. (-) Planes - $4,274,000
6. (1) One Direction: This is Us - $4,100,000
7. (6) Elysium - $3,100,000
8. (12) Blue Jasmine - $2,688,000
9. (10) Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters - $2,500,000
10. (8) The World's End - $2,302,000