Box Office Report: ‘Paranormal Activity 2′ scares up record $41.5 mil

The screaming you hear is merely the sound of Paramount Pictures celebrating. According to early estimates, the studio’s Paranormal Activity 2 not only won the weekend with $41.5 million from 3,216 locations, but it also set the record for the largest three-day opening for a horror film, creeping past Friday the 13th‘s $40.6 million tally from last year. Although Paranormal 2 dropped 35 percent from Friday to Saturday, the haunted-house flick got enough people to storm out of their homes and into movie theaters for a whopping $20.1 million on Friday (including $6.3 million from Thursday midnight showings). The movie also easily surpassed its predecessor’s wide-release opening of $21.1 million.

According to Paramount, 61 percent of the audience was less than 25 years old, and the exit pollster CinemaScore had moviegoers giving the film an okay but not super grade of “B.” Those two elements combined, plus the arrival of Saw 3D, suggest that Paranormal 2 will probably suffer a significant drop next weekend. But considering the film’s $3 million budget, we doubt Paramount will be complaining. If anything, Paranormal Activity 3 will be here before you know it.

The weekend’s other new wide release, Clint Eastwood’s supernatural drama Hereafter, expanded from six theaters into 2,181 locations, and materialized with a decent $12 million. Warner Bros. revealed that 80 percent of the film’s audience was at least 30 years old. That kind of age split often indicates that a movie may have some stamina at the box office, since older audiences commonly avoid a film’s opening weekend. However, Hereafter‘s “C+” grade from CinemaScore moviegoers may not bode well for the film’s future.

Last weekend’s winner, Paramount’s Jackass 3D, grabbed second place and declined 57 percent for $21.6 million, bringing its cumulative total to a franchise-best $87.1 million. Third place went to Summit’s action comedy Red, which fell only 31 percent for $15 million. And in fifth place was the best-reviewed film of the year so far, Sony’s The Social Network, which dipped 29 percent for a $7.3 million weekend. The David Fincher drama has grossed $72.9 million, but it’s looking like the Oscar hopeful may ultimately fall a tad short of the $100 million finish line. Then again, you never know with Mark Zuckerberg.

Check back next weekend as Saw 3D, the supposed last entry in the seven-film horror franchise, splatters all sorts of nasty things in your general direction.

1. Paranormal Activity 2 — $41.5 mil
2. Jackass 3D — $21.6 mil
3. Red — $15 mil
4. Hereafter — $12 mil
5. The Social Network — $7.3 mil

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‘Saw 3D’ director Kevin Greutert on making Jigsaw’s final movie (and NOT making ‘Paranormal Activity 2′)

Image Credit: Brooke PalmerKevin Greutert edited the first five Saw movies and directed the most recent pair—last year’s Saw VI and Saw 3D, which opens Friday. So it isn’t a huge surprise to discover that the horror franchise, in which victims must try to escape torture-traps set by Tobin Bell’s character Jigsaw, has infiltrated his subconscious. “I do have Saw dreams,” says the filmmaker. “I can’t even escape it in my sleep.”

Nor has he been able to escape it in real-life, despite his best efforts to do so. Following the huge success of last fall’s Paranormal Activity, Greutert and TV writer Michael Perry (The Dead Zone, Millennium) were approached to oversee the second film in the PA franchise, despite the original movie taking a big bite from the box office of Greutert’s Saw VI. “When I was approached by the Paranormal guys, I was thrilled,” says Greutert. “We had quite a few meetings and did a lot of pitching with them. And of course Michael stayed on.” Greutert did not. In January, the producers of the Saw movies exercised an option in the director’s contract, which allowed them to extract Greutert from Paranormal 2 and deposit the director on the Toronto set of Saw 3D, shortly before the film was due to start principal photography. Greutert reportedly responded by blogging that “lawyers are sending me to Canada.” “I don’t remember that!” Greutert protests, with mock innocence. “Starting with the release of Saw VI, and the disappointing box-office performance, it’s been a dark time for me, no question. But honestly, this subject, while it’s fascinating, I should probably not say more on it.”

Image Credit: Brooke PalmerThe director does admit to being “very daunted” by the idea of making a 3-D movie with almost no prep time. “I got to Toronto just a little over a week before we went to camera,” he says. “There was a lot of crazy turmoil in this production. Frankly, I’m glad it’s over. Because there were definitely things that I would have done a lot differently if I had been on the film from the beginning. But at the same time, they wouldn’t have brought me on so suddenly and at the last minute if they didn’t trust my opinion. It all worked out.”

While the director may have reluctantly returned to the Saw franchise, Greutert is clearly proud of the latest entry which, in addition to its 3-D mayhem, boasts the long-awaited return to the franchise of actor Cary Elwes. Greutert reveals that audiences will finally find out the fate of Elwes’ character Dr. Lawrence Gordon, who we last saw disappearing to points unknown after severing his own foot at the end of the first movie. “We absolutely find that out,” says the director. “I think that in this film, we’ve done a better job than any of the other sequels in making this movie stand alone, for people that aren’t totally up to speed with all the Saw movies. That said, for sure, it delves deep into the background of most of the characters.” Greutert also says that Saw 3D features “more of the general world, not just the creaky chambers we’ve seen in previous movies. They put some money into this sucker, no question.”

Image Credit: Brooke PalmerMoney, however, can’t buy you everything. Saw 3D was originally slated to hit cinemas on October 22, the same day as Paranormal Activity 2. But in July, Saw distributors Lionsgate pushed the film back a week. The move seems like a wise choice, given the extraordinary box office success of Paranormal Activity 2, which grossed $41.5 over the weekend. “There were assorted reasons for why it happened,” says Greutert of his film’s release date change. “But I think it was a good choice.”

This may be the final year the two franchises have to worry about what the other is doing. Greutert confirms that Saw 3D is the last in the series. Of course, he could just be saying that to, ahem, trap people into seeing the sucker this weekend. “It’s funny how skeptical people are that this really could be the last one,” says Greutert. “Anything’s possible, I suppose, and it’s not something that I personally have any power over. But in my opinion, we have exhausted the Jigsaw storyline with Saw 3D. And any future movies would not be in the annual cycle that we’ve experienced for the last seven years. Realistically it would have to be in pre-production for now. That said, we really did want it to be the last one. If you start making movies that don’t live up to the ‘greatest hits’ in the series, it denigrates the past, and nobody wants that. We want this to go down in history as a great franchise. I think it is the last Saw movie,” he adds, “but it’s absolutely my last Saw movie.” Which would leave him free to direct… Paranormal Activity 3? “Let’s not go there,” he laughs.

You can check out the trailer for Saw 3D below. Are you a fan of the series? Do you believe this will be the last in the series?

More on Halloween movies:
Paranormal Activity 2 scares up record $41.5m
Director Gareth Edwards on his sci-fi movie Monsters
Paranormal Activity 2: Exclusive Q&A with Katie Featherstone

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Box office preview: ‘Paranormal Activity 2′ will attempt to scare its way into first place

Paramount Pictures will likely be trick-or-treating early this year, as the studio is expected to snag the top two spots at the box office over the weekend with its horror sequel Paranormal Activity 2 and the surprisingly potent Jackass 3D. The original Paranormal Activity is already considered a box-office legend. The 2009 haunted-house flick, which was made for a mere $15,000, built initial buzz by letting moviegoers “demand” local screenings through the film’s website. After four weeks of increasingly sold-out showings, the movie opened wide exactly one year ago and shocked pundits by conquering the weekend with $21.1 million (and simultaneously crushing horror competitor Saw VI). The Paranormal sequel won’t have the same element of surprise this time around, but Paramount has been careful to make sure the film doesn’t follow in the footsteps of, say, Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2, the 2000 sequel that cumulatively earned $26.4 million compared to The Blair Witch Project‘s $140.5 million. Here are my weekend predictions:

1. Paranormal Activity 2: $29.5 million

Paramount is aiming for the original movie’s $21.1 million wide-release opening, but this R-rated sequel shouldn’t have any trouble topping that figure. Rather than transforming the franchise into a mega-budget gorefest, the studio was adamant about replicating the first film’s formula: unknown cast, minuscule budget ($3 million this time around), and low-grade cinematography (this time via security cameras instead of a consumer camcorder). Based upon the massive turnout at the free midnight previews held last night (where the film played in 20 cities to reportedly standing room-only audiences), moviegoers seem eager to spend some more time with your typical angry suburban demon.

2. Jackass 3D: $22 million

Johnny Knoxville and his testosterone-loaded cohorts surpassed every expectation last weekend by nailing $50.4 million — the largest opening ever for an October release. While Jackass will likely lose a significant portion of its college-age audience to Paranormal Activity, the 3-D stunt extravaganza has performed well during the workweek (grossing $4.4 million, $4.1 million, and $3.4 million on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, respectively), so the movie should avoid a steep drop of 60 percent. A 55 percent decline is more likely for a weekend take of about $22 million and a cumulative tally of nearly $90 million. As a result, by the end of this weekend, Jackass 3D will have already passed the final grosses of both Jackass: The Movie ($64.3 million) and Jackass Number Two ($72.8 million). I’ll leave it to some sociology professor to determine what the success of these movies says about modern-day moviegoers.

3. Red: $12.5 million

Summit’s action comedy opened to a hearty $21.8 million last weekend, and considering its appeal to a somewhat older movie crowd, it should hold up decently during its second round. Expect a drop of slightly more than 40 percent.

4. Hereafter: $11.5 million

Clint Eastwood’s supernatural drama, starring Matt Damon, debuted last weekend in six theaters and managed to earn a per-site average of $36,720. It expands to 2,181 screens this weekend and will have to deal with mediocre reviews and competition from Red, which has also been skewing older. Hereafter should be able to top Eastwood’s last film, Invictus, which also starred Damon and opened at approximately the same number of theaters last year to the tune of $8.6 million, but it’d be a surprise if the movie registers much higher than that. Warner Bros. is hoping the $50 million film will be a slow burner — Eastwood’s projects often display encouraging stamina at the box office.

5. The Social Network: $7 million

Going into its fourth weekend, David Fincher’s drama (and guaranteed Oscar-player) is still being debated by moviegoers and journalists. (And even Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who said the film got his fashion sense absolutely correct but his motivation for inventing the website wrong). While Disney’s Secretariat could challenge The Social Network for fifth place, we’d put our (virtual) money on the latter.

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Box office update: ‘Paranormal Activity 2′ breaks R-rated midnight record with $6.3 million

The demons, and quite a few moviegoers, were out last night for the midnight debut of Paramount’s Paranormal Activity 2, which grossed $6.3 million from 12:00 a.m. screenings, according to studio estimates. That figure is the highest midnight gross for an R-rated film, besting Watchmen‘s $4.6 million take from last year. It also smashes the record for the largest October midnight opening, which was set all of one week ago when Jackass 3D collected $2.5 million. Paramount has been heavily promoting Paranormal Activity 2 as a “midnight movie,” and this early turnout practically ensures that the sequel will surpass its predecessor’s wide-release opening of $21.1 million.

Box Office Preview: ‘Paranormal Activity 2' attempts to scare its way into first place

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'Paranormal Activity 2' Tops Friday Box Office - MTV.com

The follow-up to last year's runaway horror hit, "Paranormal Activity 2," kicked off its first weekend in theaters with a major haul. The creepy tale of a household dealing with unwanted spirits, told through grainy surveillance footage and like its predecessor was largely unscripted, pulled in $20.1 million on Friday.

Trailing behind "Paranormal" is last week's box-office busting debut "Jackass 3D. " The prank-fest, which landed about $50 million its first weekend in theaters, slipped to the second-place slot. Johnny Knoxville and his crew's latest array of cringe-inducing antics rang up nearly $7.6 million as it entered its sophomore session in theaters. Friday's haul's kicks the film's total estimated gross to over $73 million.

The spy thriller "Red" continued to pull in audiences and came in third in Friday's box-office race. The flick, which stars Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren and Bruce Willis as retired hired guns now dodging their former employer's efforts to keep them quiet, raked in roughly $4.5 million. The action picture's total gross is an estimated $33 million.

The Clint Eastwood-helmed ensemble drama "Hereafter" landed in fourth place. Exploring the lives of three people who are dealing with death and the afterlife in several ways, including the story of a psychic played by Matt Damon, the screen legend's latest turn in the director's chair made approximately $4.1 million on Friday.

David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin's "The Social Network," which tells the story of Facebook's rise from a Harvard campus curiosity to a social media behemoth boasting 500 million users, netted about $2.3 million on Friday. The movie's total estimated haul stands at around $67.9 million.

Check out everything we've got on "Paranormal Activity 2," "Jackass 3D." and "Red."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

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‘Paranormal Activity 2′ summons $20.1 mil at the box office on Friday

So much for the sophomore slump. Paramount’s Paranormal Activity 2 frightened away its competition and registered a quite supernatural $20.1 million on Friday, according to early estimates. That number includes the $6.3 million the horror sequel earned from Thursday midnight screenings — a late-night record for an R-rated movie. Paramount had been cautiously forecasting Paranormal 2 to match the $21.1 million its predecessor grossed on its wide-release debut, but the sequel now seems headed for a weekend tally of $40 million. Not too shabby for a film with a $3 million budget.

Jackass 3D, also a Paramount release, dropped 66 percent from last Friday for an estimated grab of $7.6 million. While that may seem like a particularly steep drop, the stunt film’s business was front-loaded last weekend as Jackass enthusiasts stormed theaters on opening day. Jackass 3D should finish the weekend around $23 million, for a more sensible drop of about 55 percent. The gray-haired actioner Red landed in third place, falling only 38 percent for $4.5 million. In fourth place was Clint Eastwood’s drama Hereafter, which expanded into 2,181 theaters and grossed $4.1 million. The $50 million film, which stars Matt Damon as a psychic who communicates with the dead, will likely wind up with a bit more than $12 million for the weekend. And in fifth place, The Social Network kept chugging along with $2.3 million — a scant 32 percent drop from last weekend. Check back here on Sunday for the complete box office report.

1. Paranormal Activity 2 — $20.1 mil
2. Jackass 3D — $7.6 mil
3. Red — $4.5 mil
4. Hereafter — $4.1 mil
5. The Social Network — $2.3 mil

Box Office Preview: ‘Paranormal Activity 2' attempts to scare its way into first place

More Paranormal Activity 2 from EW: Katie Featherston exclusive Q&A

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