Considering it broke records for fastest and biggest advance sales ever in movie history, it comes as no surprise that High School Musical 3 took the top slot at the box office this weekend.

Earning a whopping $42 million, the G-rated Disney sequel beat out Lions Gate’s horror sequel Saw V, which earned $30.5 million. Both films had a budget of around $11 million, making each of them winners for their respective studios in their first week in theaters.

Coming in at #3 with $7.6 million was last week’s winner, Max Payne, the Mark Wahlberg big-screen adaptation of the popular video game. Holding strong at #5 was multi-week winner Beverly Hills Chihuahua, another Disney offering, with $6.9 million for a total of $78 million after four weeks.

At #5 is another newcomer for the week, Pride & Glory, which only earned $6.3 million — not even close to its $30 million budget (no doubt spent on its big-named stars Edward Norton and Colin Farrell).

Opening this week on only 15 screens and placing at #20 was the Clint Eastwood drama Changeling, starring Angelina Jolie, which earned $502,000.

And just because it’s one of my favorite movies of all time, I might as well mention that the theatrical re-issue of Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D started its limited 284-screen run this weekend, earning $372,000.

Opening next week: the Kevin Smith R-rated comedy Zack and Miri Make a Porno; Guy Richie’s gangster movie RocknRolla; two horror flicks Splinter and The Haunting of Molly Hartley; and My Name Is Bruce, the indie offering from b-actor extraordinaire Bruce Campbell starring as himself.

[Source: Box Office Mojo]