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Sunday
25Oct2009

Box Office - 'Paranormal Activity' Dethrones 'Saw'

DateSunday, October 25, 2009 at 10:35AM
After five years at the top of the box office, Saw has been humbled. We didn't think it would beat Paranormal Activity, but we did think it would be a competitive race. And for one day, it was. After a $7 million start for Saw VI, the film only made another $8 million or so on Saturday and Sunday.

That means, of course, that Paranormal Activity - the little movie that could - did. For the second straight weekend, the film with the budget in the $15,000 range has cleared $20 million at the box office. That means that for two weekends in a row, the movie has earned well over 1,000 times its budget. By comparison, Transformers has only made about four times its budget. Total.

The actual number this weekend was $22 million, as Paranormal expanded into more than 1,000 theaters for the first time. It was still in fewer than 1,000 less theaters than Saw, making the victory that much more impressive. The total US box office stands at $62.5 million. If we're playing the profit margin game again, that's about 5,000 times the cost of production.

Is $100 million possible? Yeah, and even though business will really pick up at the box office in November, another $25 million or so likely over the next seven days. That should be enough to grease the rails for a $100 million take.

This could actually go on to be a bigger box office success story than The Blair With Project, at least in America. Not only did Blair Witch cost more, it was released in more theaters. It did earn $140 million back in 1999, and it's probable that Paranormal could get within $25 million of that amount. There's currently no information about a foreign release schedule.

The week's three other new releases failed to crack the top five, a bad sign for Astro Boy and The Vampire's Assistant. The latter was set up as the beginning of a franchise, but with a $6 million opening, I'd say Universal has to go back to the drawing board. Amelia finished the weekend at number 11, but Fox Searchlight is planning its usual fall awards season run. They'll be disappointed, but that's the idea.

The Top Five:
1 - Paranormal Activity ($22 million)
2 - Saw VI ($14.8 million)
3 - Where the Wild Things Are ($14.4 million)
4 - Law Abiding Citizen ($12.7 million)
5 - Couples Retreat (11.1 million)

AuthorColin Boyd | | in , , , | Print ArticlePrint Article | | Comment3 Comments |

Reader Comments (3)

Didn't transformers only double it's budget?

Sunday, October 25, 2009 | Unregistered Commenterknives

US dollars, yeah. Worldwide it doubled it again. However, that's before marketing costs and everything, so if you add that in, then no. But they always keep those costs under wraps, so it's hard to know for sure what they spent. And then you've got to get into DVD sales...

Sunday, October 25, 2009 | Registered CommenterColin Boyd

I think 140+ is a little steep. but I am very glad to see this movie doing so well. I would say it will break 100 at its max.

Sunday, October 25, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterNelson

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