Hugh Jackman film Prisoners tops US box office

Jake Gyllenhaal stars as a detective looking for a missing girl in Prisoners while Hugh Jackman plays her father

Kidnapping drama Prisoners, starring Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal, has topped the US box office in its opening weekend.

The thriller about two young girls who are abducted, took $21.4m (£13.3m).

Its release continues the shift away from summer blockbusters to the films hoping for Oscar success next March.

Last week's number one, horror movie Insidious: Chapter 2, slipped to two, while Robert DeNiro's mafia comedy The Family was in third.

The film, which co-stars Michelle Pfeiffer as part of a family relocated to France under the witness protection programme, took $7m (£4.4m).

The Insidious horror franchise sees Patrick Wilson as a husband and father to a young son who attracts ghosts and demons. It made $14.5m (£9m) over the weekend.

Mexican comedy-drama Instructions Not Included was at number four, making $5.7m (£3.6m), while Chris Brown dance movie Battle of the Year rounded out the top five, taking $5m (£3.1m).

Directed by Canadian Denis Villeneuve, Prisoners sees Jackman as a father who takes matters into his own hands when his daughter and her friend go missing. Gyllenhaal stars as the small-town police detective working the case.

The film, which cost around $46m (£28.7m) to make, was well received when it premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and then the Toronto International Film Festival.

"A few years ago, people were saying that the adult drama is dead,'' said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com.

"We're just seeing a change. Now we're finding that intersection between good movies that are also generating big box office.''

The similarly grown up fare of Lee Daniels' The Butler remained in the top 10 at seven. Its £4.3m (£2.7m) weekend takings mean it has now made a total of $106.5m (£66.4m) in the six weeks since it opened.

Ron Howard's Formula One tale Rush and the romantic comedy Enough Said - which stars James Gandolfini in one of his final performances - both opened well in a handful of cinemas ahead of an expanded release next week.

Rush opened in five cinemas averaging $40,000 (£25,000) per location, while Enough Said made an average $60,000 (£37,000) in each of the four cinemas it played in.