The first time’s the charm for Fede Álvarez at the box office…

The 35-year-old Uruguayan filmmaker’s highly anticipated Evil Dead remake, his first feature film, proved to be the big winner at the North American box office in its opening weekend, earning an estimated $26 million.

The remake of Sam Raimi’s tale of demonic possession beat out the previous champ G.I. Joe: Retaliation, which came in No. 1 with an estimated $41.2 million last week.

Among the remakes of horror films, the Álvarez’s thriller earned more on opening weekend than Texas Chainsaw 3D, which opened to $21.7 million in January. But Evil Dead made less than Guillermo del Toro’s Mama, which earned $28.4 million in February. Receiving a “C+” from CinemaScore, it is predicted to wind up with around $50 million.

Here’s a look at this weekend’s Top 10 films at the box office:

1. Evil Dead – $26 million

2. G.I. Joe: Retaliation – $21.1 million (tie)

2. The Croods – $21.1 million (tie)

4. Jurassic Park – $18.2 million

5. Olympus Has Fallen – $10.4 million

6. Tyler Perry’s Temptation – $10 million

7. Oz: The Great and Powerful – $8.1 million

8. The Host (2013) – $5.2 million

9. The Call – $3.5 million

10. Admission – $2.05 million