LOS ANGELES — Horror swung a sharper blade than Zorro at the box office.

With Halloween at hand, the bloody "Saw II" won the weekend with $30.5 million, almost double the $16.5 million opening of Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones' swashbuckling sequel "The Legend of Zorro."

The weekend's other big-name releases had so-so premieres. "Prime," starring Uma Thurman and Meryl Streep in a romance between a thirtysomething woman and a younger man, debuted at No. 3.

Nicolas Cage's "The Weather Man," in which he plays a materially successful TV forecaster whose personal life is a tempest of disorder, opened at No. 6 with $4.3 million.

"Saw II," featuring Donnie Wahlberg as a cop drawn into a deadly game with the serial killer of the 2004 horror hit "Saw," easily outdid the original movie's $18.3 million opening over last Halloween weekend.

"Saw" did a respectable $55.2 million at the domestic box office, but the sequel got a big boost from fans who discovered the franchise on DVD.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday:

1. "Saw II," $30.5 million.

2. "The Legend of Zorro," $16.5 million.

3. "Prime," $6.4 million.

4. "Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story," $6.3 million.

5. "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit," $4.4 million.

6. "The Weather Man," $4.3 million.

7. "Doom," $4.1 million.

8. "North Country," $3.65 million.

9. "The Fog," $3.3 million.

10. "Flightplan," $2.6 million.