Expendables 2 tops US box office

Sylvester Stallone and his beefy buddies have muscled their way to the top of the US weekend box office with The Expendables 2.

The action hero flick - which also stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Jason Statham, Chuck Norris and Jean-Claude Van Damme - took in 28.8 million dollars to debut at number one, according to studio estimates.

The movie, which also pulled in 17.3 million overseas, elbowed out another action tale as The Bourne Legacy fell to number two in its second weekend with 17 million.

Animated comedy ParaNorman, about a boy leading the fight against zombies that rise from the grave, was in third place after making 14 million dollars.

The Campaign was in fourth and Sparkle, which features late singer Whitney Houston, was fifth with 12 million.

The film is an update of the 1976 original and follows three sisters who form a singing group in the late 1960s.

Sparkle was Whitney's first big screen outing since The Preacher's Wife in 1996, and sees the diva in a supporting role as the stern but loving mother of the three singers.