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Monday, October 26, 2009

'Paranormal Activity' scares up huge third weekend with $22m, October 23-25, 2009

How much can $11,000 buy you at the box office? Apparently one of the biggest horror-thriller revelations in history, as Paramount's indie smash Paranormal Activity continues to take the box office by storm, climbing to the top of the charts for the first time in its five week run. Clearly suffering in its wake was Lionsgate's torture porn sequel Saw VI, which debuted with the worst opening in franchise history in second place.

Continuing to build momentum in its fifth week of release was Paramount's mind-bogglingly cheap thriller Paranormal Activity, which took in another phenomenal $22 million surprisingly taking the top spot over Saw VI. Expanding from 763 to 1,945 theaters, the film saw a 12% rise in sales from last weekend, bringing its five week cume to $62.5 million. With Halloween weekend still ahead of it, it's conceivable that the R-rated release could have enough legs, thanks to tremendous word of mouth, to cross $100 million, making it one of the most profitable film ventures in cinema history.

The film hurt the most from the fantastic hold of Paranormal Activity was Lionsgate's bread-and-butter horror franchise Saw VI, which opened to $14.8 million, by far the worst opening in the lucrative series. With the last four films all earning at least $30 million (the original Saw bowed with $18.1 million), Saw VI's numbers were certainly troubling for the studio. Averaging an unimpressive $4,874 from 3,036 theaters, the $11 million budgeted pic will more than likely become the lowest grossing in the entire franchise.

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