Rob Zombie’s horror remake of “Halloween” did not frighten moviegoers from spending a holiday-weekend record of $26.5 million on tickets.

When John Carpenter released his horror film “Halloween” in 1978, it very soon became a classic of the genre, the originator of almost all slashers to come.

Rob Zombie must feel especially gratified for having reinvented the classic, as his version of the film scored a record-breaking Labor Day weekend haul of $26.5 million in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales through Sunday, according to distributor MGM.

Musician turned director Rob Zombie, real name Robert Cummings, made his debut behind the camera with the bloody “House of 1000 Corpses.” Among his more recent projects is a collaboration with Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino on the 2007 film “Grindhouse.”

Zombie’s chosen cast for the remake consists of Malcolm McDowell, Sheri Moon Zombie, Tyler Mane, Brad Dourif, Danielle Harris Scout Taylor-Compton reprising Jamie Lee Curtis’s role in the original film.

Labor Day weekend was no disappointment for the movie industry this year, exceeding the previous record set in 2005 by “Transporter 2,” starring Jason Statham, which debuted with $16.5 million.

Distributor MGM certainly was not frustrated, as Clark Woods, president of domestic distribution at MGM, said: “Only a couple weeks ago, people were talking about the death of the horror movie. The genre sure wasn't dead this weekend.”

Following behind “Halloween” was teen comedy “Superbad,” still doing well at the box office in its third weekend, with $12.2 million, according to studio estimates.

Making its debut at No. 3 was Robert Ben Garant’s quirky comedy “Balls of Fury,” starring Daniel Fogler and the inimitable Christopher Walken. The ping-pong film grossed $11.5 million. Having opened Wednesday, it has to this day grossed $17 million.

Another movie to debut this weekend is Kevin Bacon’s thriller “Death Sentence,” which opened at No. 8 with a modest $4.1 million.

In-between “Balls of Fury” and “Death Sentence” came “The Bourne Ultimatum,” starring Matt Damon, at No. 4 with $10.2 million; Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker’s “Rush Hour 3” placed fifth with $8.6 million; “Mr. Bean’s Holiday” grossed $5.9 million at No. 6.

Scarlett Johansson’s “The Nanny Diaries,” which debuted quite modestly last weekend, managed to sell tickets worth another $5.1 million, placing in at No. 7. “War” and “Stardust” rounded the top ten grossing movies of the weekend with $3.6 million and $3 million respectively.