'High School Musical 3' claims US box-office top spot

'High School Musical 3: Senior Year' has danced its way to the top of the US box-office chart, raking in $42m (€33.73m) in its opening weekend.

The Disney movie, which stars teen actors Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens and Ashley Tisdale, set a new record for a musical after trumping the $27.8m (€22.33m) 'Mamma Mia!' opened with in July.

'High School Musical 3' comfortably beat horror film 'Saw V', which took $30.5m (€24.5m) to debut at two.

Last week's number one, 'Max Payne', the big-screen adaptation of the violent video game, slips to number three in its second week on release with $7.6m (€6.1m), while 'Beverly Hills Chihuahua' is at four with $6.9m (€5.5m).

Meanwhile, Colin Farrell and Edward Norton's cop drama 'Pride and Glory' just scraped its way into the top five with a poor opening of $6.3m (€5.06m).