'Paranormal Activity' climbs to number one in its fifth week

By Sarah Sluis

Most horror movies open huge and drop precipitously, at least 50%, in their second week. Not Paranormal Activity. In a rare case of the tortoise beating the hare, the minuscule-budget movie rose to number one in its fifth week and usurped the Saw franchise, which consistently had been opening in the $30 million range. As I predicted, Paranormal Activity's per-screen average dropped about 50% from last week, but since the movie more than doubled the its total screens, its gross shot up 12% to $22 million.

Below Paranormal Activity, Saw VI opened at $14.8 million, despite receiving positive reviews for its jibes at health care and insurance. Critic Frank Scheck wrote that "[i]f this is torture porn, it's as if it was designed to be enjoyed by Michael Moore."

Four family titles were in the top ten, making for a crowded market. Summit's Astro Boy opened at number six with $7 million. Most critics had at least something good to say about the movie (it's tracking at 49% on Rotten Tomatoes), so perhaps the property was just too obscure to connect with audiences. Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant opened two spots lower, at $6.3 million, but received overwhelmingly negative reviews, with reports that the movie went all over the place. At number nine, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs dropped 30% in its sixth week to take in $5.6 million, making it the strongest family movie of the fall. Up at number three, Where the Wild Things Are dropped 55% in its second week to $14.4 million. While it's certainly not the flop some were predicting, its second-week drop is precipitious

Fox Searchlight's Amelia opened just outside of the top ten with $4.9 million. Because it was released in just 818 theatres, its per-screen average was better than all the films in the top ten. While reviews faulted its by-the-book storytelling, which may move it out of awards consideration, the PG-rated flick with a historical heroine could make it the perfect matinee for a young girl and her parents or older audiences in search of tamer subject matter.

Among specialty releases, An Education had the best per-screen average of the week, earning $13,000 per screen and approaching the $1 million mark in its third week. Antichrist debuted with a $12,200 per screen at six theatres.

This Wednesday, the Michael Jackson concert film This Is It will release, followed by a weekend devoid of major openings because of the Saturday night Halloween holiday.