'The Devil Inside' takes possession of the #1 spot

By Sarah Sluis

The success of The Devil Inside this weekend smacks of carnival hucksterism. Everyone in the industry expected the movie to earn $10 million, tops, but instead the horror film raked in $34.5 million. Audiences may have been cheated, though. 19% of viewers in exit polls gave the movie an "F" score, and word is the ending is so bad it provokes outrage among audience members. However, people came because the marketing campaign and trailer for the movie were scary and enticing. If I didn't know better I might have actually thought the horror flick was worth seeing myself. Over on Variety, Paramount's marketing team attributed the success to the "fun and loose," no-stakes campaign they ran. Maybe marketing teams normally overthink too much, because Devil Inside clearly succeeded because of its pre-release ads and stunts.

In second place, Mission: Impossible--Ghost Protocol remained ahead of the other holiday blockbusters with a total of $20.5 million. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows followed, falling 3% more than the Tom Cruise movie to finish with $14 million. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo held on to more of its box office than the first two movies, dipping just 23% to finish with $11.3 million. Cumulatively, though, Dragon Tattoo has close to $100 million less than Mission: Impossible, which has earned $176 million stateside to date.

Expanding into 809 theatres, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy tallied up $5.8 million, a 431% increase from last week. Overseas, the British film has earned $25 million to date, mostly in the U.K.

Both Pariah and A Separation showed increases in their second weekend. Going from four to eleven theatres, Pariah averaged $10,100 per screen, with receipts up 130% from last week. The Iranian drama A Separation went from three to six theatres, rising 62% and averaging $16,000 per screen.

This Friday, a re-release of Beauty and the Beast in 3D will try to replicate the success of The Lion King 3D. The Mark Wahlberg thriller Contraband and the Dolly Parton-Queen Latifah gospel movie Joyful Noise will round out the offerings.