'Saw 3D' a cut above 'Paranormal Activity 2'

By Sarah Sluis

Despite projections that competing horror flicks Saw 3D and Paranormal Activity 2 would be neck and neck, the newer content won out this weekend. Saw 3D opened to $22.5 million, with 92% of the figure coming from 3D screens. Billed as the "final chapter" of Saw, it remains unseen whether the seventh film will be the last, especially since the movie outperformed Saw VI's opening weekend by $8 million.

Paranormal Activity 2 dived 59% to $16.5 million in its second weekend, though the sequel's high opening weekend and weekday activity has already pushed the film to a healthy cumulative total of $65 million. It's just a matter of time before Paramount announces the next sequel.

Jackass 3D, with its similarly young, opening weekend-driven crowd, fell another 60% in its third weekend to $8.4 million, despite the fact that its gags could be called "frightening" by many of those squeamish around physical injury, along with gross-out moments that put reality show "eating challenges" to shame.

Adult fare held better. Geriatric action comedy Red descended 28% for a $10.8 million weekend. Secretariat slid 27% to $5 million, making both films look better than their opening weekends predicted.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, the final installment of the Swedish thriller trilogy, opened slightly higher than its predecessor, earning $915,000 on a 153-screen release. That puts the movie on track to earn at least as much as The Girl Who Played with Fire, which is still playing in 33 theatres and has accrued $7.5 million in four months.

Conviction rose into the top ten in its third week, running up $1.8 million as it expanded from 55 to 565 screens. The per-screen average dipped from $5,500 to $3,200, a strong hold that helps make up for its lackluster first two weeks.

Documentary Waste Land eked out the highest per-screen average of the week with $11,600 on one screen. Just below, the French film Inspector Bellamy averaged $11,200 per screen on two screens. The indie film Monsters, despite its topical content, had a more mellow $7,000 per-screen average on three screens, though the sci-fi film's microbudget should help make up for a middling debut.

This Friday, the Zach Galifianakis-Robert Downey Jr. road trip comedy Due Date will go against Tyler Perry's artsy play adaptation For Colored Girls and DreamWorks Animation's tentpole release of animated 3D feature Megamind. Platform releases of 127 Hours and Fair Game will round out the crowded weekend. The end-of-the-year movie season has begun!

'Saw 3D' to carve piece of Halloween box office from 'Paranormal Activity 2'

By Sarah Sluis

Halloween falls on a Sunday this year, giving festive audiences two extra days to get in the mood with Saw 3D (2,808 theatres). Though holiday parties may cut into ticket sales, this year Halloween arrives after the profitable Friday and Saturday evenings, which should lift grosses beyond where they were the last two years. The total box office for Saw movies actually peaked with the second installment, but has remained profitable, and the added premium for 3D screens could push this film into the $20 million range. However, since Paranormal Activity 2 premiered to $40 million last week, a 50% decline could still put it ahead of Saw 3D.

For specialty audiences, the third installment of the Dragon Tattoo trilogy, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, will unspool in 123 theatres. Critic Maitland McDonagh was glad the series was over. "It's great to see Lisbeth [the heroine] vindicated (and no, that's not a spoiler), but getting there is a long, tedious slog." The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has currently amassed $10 million stateside, and its sequel $7.5 million, so this suspense thriller should continue the successful streak for the Swedish-language trilogy.

Hilary Swank's turn as a determined woman trying to win her brother's freedom in Conviction will expand to 565 theatres in its third week. The true-life drama has been struggling to find a hold at the box office, so this expansion will either lift it slightly or confirm it as Swank's second miss in a row, after last year's Amelia.

Indie audiences can check out Monsters (2 theatres), which "accomplishes the not-insignificant task of creating a believable alternate reality for [director Gareth Edwards'] low-budget, low-key science-fiction story," according to critic Ethan Alter. While he felt the director succeeded in making a world that felt "lived-in," the two lead actors left him cold. "Had Edwards taken as much care crafting these characters as he did the world they exist in, Monsters may have been a cult classic in the making instead of a mildly interesting missed opportunity," he speculated.

The top-notch cast of James Gandolfini, Melissa Leo and Twilight-er Kristen Stewart assemble for Welcome to the Rileys (10 theatres). Gandolfini plays a grief-stricken man who befriends a young prostitute (Stewart) in New Orleans, a bold move that lifts his wife (Leo) out of agoraphobia.

On Monday, the 2010 Halloween box office will be weighed against the spooky nights of years past, and I'll see if any of the specialty releases were able to break out of the pack.