Halloween fever is clearly in the air because not only did Paranormal Activity 2 snag the top spot at the box office, but it demolished the competition. The film might have gotten a serious budget increase going from just $15,000 to a $3 million tab, but it had no problem whatsoever blowing that price tag away its very first week in theaters. The film took in a whopping $41.5 million in 3,216 theaters and, even more impressive, secured a $12,904 per theater average.
Jackass 3D took a hefty 57.1% hit in its second week, but it still managed to pull in another $21.6 million to take the second position. So far the film has accumulated an impressive $87.1 million. Coming in at #3 is the star-studded Red with $15 million. It only dropped 31.1% in week two, bringing its grand total to $43.5 million. It’s still significantly shy of its $58 million budget, but looks as though it’ll have the legs to take care of the costs on its domestic run alone.
Hereafter got a 2,175-theater boost in its second week, helping it fly up the chart from 28th to 4th with a $12 million haul. That one is still a ways away from getting into the green, thanks to its $50 million budget. The Social Network is still cruising along in week four, adding another $7.3 million to its pot followed close behind by the 6th highest earner, Secretariat, which snagged another $6.9 million. Life As We Know It took in another $6.2 million in its third week, bringing its total to $37.6 million, putting it just in arm’s reach of its $38 million budget.
Unfortunately the same cannot be said for Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole, which is nowhere near to making back its $80 budget. That one nabbed another $3.2 million in its fifth week, which makes its domestic total $50.2 million. The Town took in $2.7 million, earning it the #9 spot in its sixth week while Easy A rounds out the top ten with $1.8 million in its sixth week as well.
The stakes will be high for next week’s sole new wide release, Saw 3D. Between the massive amount of moviegoers that turned out to see Paranormal Activity 2 and the film’s generally positive reviews, there’s a good chance it could take the top spot two weeks in a row, which would be a major blow to the Saw franchise considering the seventh installment is expected to be the last. As for limited releases, we’ve got a few noteworthy items to keep an eye out for. There’s The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, the third film of the series, Gareth Edwards’ Monsters, the Kristen Stewart, James Gandolfini and Melissa Leo starrer Welcome to the Rileys and the British comedy Wild Target.
By Perri Nemiroff (via Box Office Mojo)
