Big news: Paranormal Activity beat out Saw VI at the box office the pre-Halloween weekend. The extremely low-budget ghost flick made over $21 million dollars, while the franchise film made barely it over the $14 million mark, making it the lowest opening for a Saw movie since the first one opened in its limited release. Paranormal expanded to 1,185 theaters, about a thousand less than Saw, and has managed to scare up an impressive total of about $61 million. Where the Wild Things Are finished out the top 3, with about $14 million, dropping 57% from its previous opening weekend. It’s a steep decline for the not-so-conventional family film, with a reported $100 million budget. Let be known, readers—it is this writer’s opinion that this movie is worth the price of admission and should be seen, especially in IMAX if available. It’s certainly better than the other wide releases this week. Astro Boy, the new animated pic that’s not from Pixar, opened at number 6 with nearly $7 million. It is quite the under-performance for a film budget at $65 million, but maybe because it relies on its big-name voices to draw audiences in, rather than the value of story. Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant opened at number 7, with just over $6 million; it’s the latest movie to try and cash in on the Twilight-vampire tweenie crowd. It is based off a book series like the all-too-popular Twilight, and would be a hopeful franchise had it not had such a dismal opening. Amelia also made a hiccup this weekend, opening at number 11 with close to $4 million, and it most likely will not have much of an improved performance in the weeks to come.
