'Hansel & Gretel' scores $19M in debut weekend

"Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters" cooked up $19 million in its opening weekend.

Paramount's R-rated action film update on the classic fairy tale topped the box office, The Associated Press reports.

"Hansel & Gretel" features Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton as grown-up renditions of the title characters battling witches with crossbows.

Don Harris, Paramount's president of distribution, blamed icy weather on the East Coast for the film's not-so-bewitching debut.

"We got dinged a little bit with the weather on Friday, but overall we're pleased," Harris said.