LOS ANGELES — It took Leatherface and his chainsaw to chase tiny hobbit Bilbo Baggins out of the top spot at the box office.

Lionsgate's horror sequel "Texas Chainsaw 3-D" debuted at No. 1 with $23 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. The movie picks up where 1974's "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" left off, with masked killer Leatherface on the loose again.

Quentin Tarantino's revenge saga "Django Unchained" held on at No. 2 for a second-straight weekend with $20.1 million. The Weinstein Co. release raised its domestic total to $106.4 million.

After three weekends at No. 1, part one of Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit" trilogy slipped to third with $17.5 million. That lifts the domestic haul to $263.8 million for "The Hobbit." The Warner Bros. blockbuster added $57.1 million overseas to bring its international earnings to $561 million and its worldwide total to about $825 million.

Also passing the $100 million mark over the weekend was Universal's musical "Les Miserables," which finished at No. 4 with $16.1 million, pushing its domestic total to $103.6 million.

Like other horror franchises, "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" has had several other remakes or sequels, but the idea always seems ripe for a new wave of fright-flick fans. Nearly two-thirds of the audience was under 25, too young – or not even born – when earlier "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" movies came out.

"It's one of those that survives each generation. It's something that continues to come back and entertain its audience," said Richie Fay, head of distribution for Lionsgate.

"Texas Chainsaw" drew a hefty 84 percent of its business from 3-D screenings. Many movies now draw 50 percent or less of their revenue from 3-D screenings, but horror fans tend to prefer paying extra to see blood and guts fly with an added dimension.

In narrower release, Matt Damon's natural-gas fracking drama "Promised Land" had a slow start in its nationwide debut, coming in at No. 10 with $4.3 million after opening in limited release a week earlier.

Released by Focus Features, "Promised Land" stars Damon as a salesman pitching rural residents on fracking technology to drill for natural gas. The film widened to 1,676 theaters, averaging a slim $2,573 a cinema, compared with $8,666 in 2,654 theaters for "Texas Chainsaw."

Hollywood began the year where it left in 2012, when business surged during the holidays to carry the industry to a record $10.8 billion at the domestic box office.

Overall business this weekend came in at $149 million, up 7 percent from the same period last year, when "The Devil Inside" led with $33.7 million, according to box-office tracker Hollywood.com. But with strong business on New Year's Day last week, Hollywood already has raked in $254.2 million, 33 percent ahead of last year.

Box-office results ebb and flow quickly, so that lead could vanish almost overnight. But with a steady lineup of potential hits right through December, studios have a chance at another revenue record this year.

"The month that we had at the end of last year that led us to a record year continued right through New Year's and on now to the first official weekend of 2013," said Hollywood.com analyst Paul Dergarabedian. "We're looking for an even stronger year this year. That's in the realm of possibility. But we have 51 weekends to go."

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

1. "Texas Chainsaw 3-D," $23 million.

2. "Django Unchained," $20.1 million.

3. "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," $17.5 million ($57.1 million international).

4. "Les Miserables," $16.1 million ($14.5 million international).

5. "Parental Guidance," $10.1 million.

6. "Jack Reacher," $9.3 million ($22.3 million international).

7. "This Is 40," $8.6 million.

8. "Lincoln," $5.3 million.

9. "The Guilt Trip," $4.5 million.

10. "Promised Land," $4.3 million.

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Estimated weekend ticket sales at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada) for films distributed overseas by Hollywood studios, according to Rentrak:

1. "Life of Pi," $60.1 million.

2. "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," $57.1 million.

3. "Jack Reacher," $22.3 million.

4. "Wreck-It Ralph," $19.5 million.

5. "Les Miserables," $14.5 million.

6. "Rise of the Guardians," $9.6 million.

7. "Three Warriors on Distant Shores," $9 million.

8. "Skyfall," $7.4 million.

9. "The Impossible," $7 million.

10. "The Tower," $6.5 million.

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Online:

http://www.hollywood.com

http://www.rentrak.com

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Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.

RELATED: How 'Texas Chainsaw 3D' Stacks Up to the Original
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  • Kirk (William Vail) in ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ (1974)

    The original "Texas Chain Saw Massacre" (yes, in the original chainsaw is split into two words) remains an undeniable classic -- a brutally brilliant piece of homespun American folk art and one of the greatest horror movies of all time. But re-watching the film, it's shocking to see how little on-screen violence is actually in the movie (in one of the many subsequent documentaries about the making of the movie, director Tobe Hooper said he was originally aiming for a PG rating). The film remains disturbing due to its relentless, almost overwhelmingly gloomy tone and it's feeling of dangerous unpredictability, enabled by an amateur cast and crew and a narrative partially inspired by grisly real-life crimes. If there's one murder that remains the most iconic it's that of Kirk (William Vail), a good-looking young hippie who runs afoul of Leatherface's murderous, cannibalistic clan. Kirk is looking for some gas for his Volkswagen van (of course) and, walking calmly through the house, is greeted by Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen), who hits him over the head with a mallet, drags his body into a small room and slams a thick metal door shut. Its quickness (and the sound of that door crashing to a close) is what makes it so unforgettable.

  • Yuppie #1 (Barry Kinyon) in 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2' (1986)

    After slaughtering a bunch of hippies in the original "Texas Chain Saw Massacre," Leatherface (this time played by Bill Johnson) chose to dispatch a couple of Reagan-era yuppies. The horror sequel, written by "Paris, Texas" scribe L.M. Kit Carson and directed once again by Hooper, is an altogether different beast, with the gritty, nightmarish realism of the first film replaced by high camp stylization and an emphasis on comedy rather than horror. In this opening sequence a pair of horndog yuppies driving a Mercedes convertible, decked out in pastel Polo shirts, run afoul of Leatherface, who quickly kills both of them. The better kill involves the driver of the sporty Mercedes -- Leatherface lops off the top of his head and we get to watch fountains of blood erupting from the wound (the movie was released unrated). Like everything else in this brilliant sequel, it elicits an uncomfortable mixture of laughs and screams.

  • Ryan (William Butler) in ‘Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III’

    The second sequel to the original classic went through a development process as tortured as any one of Leatherface's victims, which concluded with a prolonged battle with the MPAA over the film's rating that pushed it from its original November release date to the movie graveyard of January (where, not coincidentally, this new 3D film will be unleashed). Most of the "kills" barely register since they have either been edited to ribbons (like Toni Hudson's vivisection against the tree trunk) or changed during post-production (where Ken Foree, originally dead, is miraculously revived). The best death, even in its compromised form, is probably Ryan (William Butler), an anonymously agreeable boyfriend who is abducted by Leatherface (R.A. Mihailoff this time) and a new family of freakish weirdos (including a then-unknown Viggo Mortensen). For one, it includes a great gag where the young girl member of the family (Jennifer Banko) protests the murder because she's the one who wants to do it (she pulls a lever and a big hammer swings down and kills Ryan); the other reason this death resonates (somewhat) is because its final grisly tableau resembles one of the actual crime scene photos from the farmhouse of Ed Gein, the infamous serial killer responsible for not only inspiring Leatherface but also Anthony Perkins' Norman Bates in "Psycho."

  • Hitchhiker (Lauren German) in ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ (2003)

    When Michael Bay and his Platinum Dunes production shingle partnered with New Line Cinema, it seemed dicey. While utilizing real Texas locations , along with the original film's cinematographer Daniel Pearl and narrator John Laroquette, much of 2003's "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" is far glitzier and more polished than the raw-knuckle thrills provided by the original. For instance, the screwy hitchhiker in the original film is replaced by a much more beautiful model (played by "Hostel, Part II" actress Lauren German). It's kind of a stupid decision but it makes for the single coolest shot in the movie -- after the hitchhiker commits suicide (she's squirreled a small handgun away inside her foreign parts), the camera pulls back through the Volkswagen van, into the hole in the girl's head and out through the back of the van. The shot signaled that this was going to be a very different "Texas Chainsaw Massacre.”

  • Eric (Matt Bomer) in ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning’ (2006)

    After the success of the "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" remake, Michael Bay and New Line Cinema decided to make a prequel, "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning" (its ungainly title is a weird reference to the opening crawl of "Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III"). This time, they would focus on the murderous, cannibalistic family and how Leatherface became the infamous mass murderer he is today. It was an iffy proposition for sure, but "The Beginning" manages to be a better film than the remake in a lot of ways, with a heavier emphasis on humor, a far more violent sensibility and a sharper political edge (it takes place during Vietnam and was released at the height of the Iraq War). It also reunited splatter-punk author David J. Schow with the franchise (he wrote the initial draft of "Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III"). The best kill here belongs to Eric (a young Matt Bomer), who Leatherface (Andrew Bryniarski) stabs with the chainsaw, while his girlfriend (Jordana Brewster) cowers underneath his body. The iconic moment comes after Eric is dead, though, as Leatherface removes his face and makes his first mask from it. Yes, it really was the beginning of the end. (You can see part of the kill in a video <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2eafz_the-texas-chainsaw-massacre-the-beg_shortfilms#.UOW-35PjmG8">over on Dailymotion</a>.)