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Weekend Box Office: Paranormal Activity Scares Up Record Opening

By InCinemas / 24 Oct 2011 (Monday)

Source: Cinemablend.com

For the first October in seven years there isn't a Saw movie tormenting theaters, but audiences didn't seem to mind at all. The long-running series appears to have a solid replacement. Paranormal Activity 3 secured that franchise's success this weekend by landing not only the biggest opening of the series so far, but the biggest ever opening for September or October.

Last year Paranormal Activity 2 made a huge smash at the box office hauling in $40 million its first weekend out. This weekend the third film topped that success, bowing in at a shocking $54 million, a fall opening record. No doubt Paramount is celebrating that little fact, but even more exciting for them are the profits. Like its predecessors, Paranormal Activity 3 was shot on a shoe string budget ($5 million to be exact), meaning the movie has already paid for itself ten times over with even more on the way.

The latest rendition of The Three Musketeers did more buckling than swashing, taking in only $8 million for a very weak fourth place. That marks the second ever worst opening for director Paul W. S. Anderson, but that shouldn't be a surprise. Musketeers isn't the first cinematic concept Smith has butchered. You might remember him as the guy who brought you the disaster that was Alien vs. Predator.

It was an even worse weekend for spy-ish spoof Johnny English Reborn, but unlike most movies arriving in US theaters its release here is more an after-thought than an event. The movie already has more than $100 million in sales around the world, making the $3 million it made to take ninth place this weekend just a little bit of icing on the cake.

For the full weekend top ten break down, check out the chart below:

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Weekend Box Office: Paranormal Activity Scares Up Record Opening