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The Karate Kid has debuted at the top of the US box office over the weekend.

The action drama, starring Jaden Smith, grossed $56 million, beating fellow ’80s remake The A-Team at number two with $26 million.

Shrek Forever After slips to third place with $15.8 million, followed by the comedy Get Him To The Greek and Killers, while sequels Sex And The City 2 and Iron Man 2 claim numbers eight and nine respectively.

Finally, the sci-fi horror Splice claims the tenth spot with $2.8 million.

The US box office top ten in full:

1. (-) The Karate Kid – $56,000,000
2. (-) The A-Team – $26,000,000
3. (1) Shrek Forever After – $15,800,000
4. (2) Get Him To The Greek – $10,100,000
5. (3) Killers – $8,170,000
6. (4) Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time – $6,600,000
7. (6) Marmaduke – $6,000,000
8. (5) Sex And The City 2 – $5,525,000
9. (7) Iron Man 2 – $4,550,000
10. (8) Splice – $2,860,000

Guillermo del Toro will supervise a new Van Helsing movie, reports Pajiba.

Universal has enlisted the former Hobbit director to write a treatment for and develop an “action horror story” blockbuster about the vampire hunter.

Abraham Van Helsing first appeared as the protagonist in Bram Stoker’s Dracula and has featured in various film, TV, comic and book incarnations. Del Toro’s version will not be related to 2004’s Van Helsing, which starred Hugh Jackman in the title role.

Del Toro previously directed the second Blade vampire movie and used the creatures as the basis for his novel The Strain.

Russell T. Davies has promised that the new series of Torchwood will have an overriding storyline.

A fourth season of the programme was confirmed earlier this week after the BBC teamed up with US network Starz.

“It’s very much the next step,” Davies told The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s not a new version, it’s not a reboot. We’re simply moving countries.”

Davies added: “The show was previously a format show – monster of the week. The breakthrough was Children of Earth and that it became one long story. It’s not going to be Lost and take 20 years to find out what’s going on. It’s going to have a most remarkable conclusion after ten episodes.”

Torchwood is expected to air on Starz in the US and on the BBC in the UK next summer.

Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant’s Cemetery Junction will not get a theatrical release in the US, reports The Playlist.

The coming-of-age comedy-drama, about three friends trying to escape Reading in the ’70s, is to avoid cinemas and debut on DVD and Blu-ray on August 17 Stateside through Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

The DVD home release will include a filmmaker’s commentary with Gervais and Merchant, a cast recording with stars Christian Cooke, Tom Hughes and Jack Doolan, deleted scenes and two featurettes. The Blu-ray disc features additional behind-the-scenes extras.

Cemetery Junction opened in the UK in April and grossed £1.4 million at the box office. A UK DVD and Blu-ray release is slated for August 30.

The movie is based on a 2007 novel by ex-60 Minutes producer John Marks. It finds New York TV producer Evangeline Harker heading to Transylvania to interview an Eastern European arms dealer, who turns out to be a present-day incarnation of Dracula.

Hilary Swank is reportedly attached to the Harker role.

Friday The 13th screenwriter Mark Wheaton has penned the adaptation.

Carpenter, whose credits include Halloween, The Thing and Escape From New York, recently completed filming on ghost tale The Ward. It is his first movie since 2001’s Ghosts Of Mars.

Sci-fi comedy Red Dwarf will return for two new series, it has been confirmed.

While standing in for Janice Long on BBC Radio 2, Craig Charles revealed that he will return as lead character David Lister.

He said: “I can now announce we are going to be doing two more series of it starting in January next year… I got the call today. They said ‘Craig, can you do it?’, I said ‘I’ll sort it out’. So I will be able to do it in January.”

Meanwhile, Chris Barrie, who plays Arnold Rimmer, told the Coventry Telegraph: “There are plans afoot to have a tenth series.

“I find it very hard to call it a tenth series, because that obviously means we’re calling the Easter special from last year the ninth series. But yes, certainly, I would say some more new Red Dwarf product. There are plans afoot to get that into gear.”

He added: “I think of ‘Back To Earth’ as a sort of 21-year celebration, really, as a proper three-part special. But yes, it would be nice to do, and hopefully we will, another six half hours.

“I don’t really know anything more than I’m saying, believe me. I do know plans are afoot, but that’s all I can say. In terms of the direction of the show, I don’t really want to see it change that much. I just want more strong storylines, probably in a half-hour format.”

The BBC has announced that Torchwood is to return for a fourth series.

The sci-fi drama, which is a spinoff to Doctor Who, will air a ten-part run following an international partnership between the corporation and US premium network Starz Entertainment.

Russell T Davies will continue to write the series. It has also been revealed that plots are to go beyond Cardiff to locations worldwide.

“We have a long history of working with many US networks but it is incredibly exciting to be working with Starz for the first time, as well as to be reunited with the best of British in Russell, Jane [Tranter] and Julie [Gardner],” said Ben Stephenson, controller of BBC drama commissioning. “Torchwood will burst back onto the screen with a shocking and moving story with global stakes and locations that will make it feel bigger and bolder than ever.”

Jane Tranter of BBC Worldwide commented: “Torchwood has attracted remarkable attention and loyalty in both the UK and US, and in this new partnership with Starz, the next chapter will not only reward our current fans, but also introduce new viewers to the most impressive instalment yet.”

Meanwhile, Starz president Chris Albrecht added: “We’re committed to programming exceptional television that is entertaining, imaginative and provides a premium TV experience, and by any measure the new concept for Torchwood fits that mandate.”

Torchwood stars John Barrowman as Captain Jack and Eve Myles as Gwen.