Looks like a little scare was just what Hollywood needed. After two months of tepid box-office results, the horror flick Paranormal Activity 3 shook things up with a monster $26.2 million on Friday, according to early estimates. That’s the strongest opening-day gross since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2 debuted way back in July.
This is unquestionably a front-loaded result for the R-rated horror prequel, especially considering that the film’s Friday figure includes the $8 million it earned from midnight showings. Regardless, though, PA3 is headed for a massive $50 million weekend, which is considerably better than anticipated and will represent the series’ best opening so far. (By comparison, last year’s Paranormal Activity 2 collected $40.7 million its first weekend.) And keep in mind that Paramount spent only $5 million to produce PA3, which won’t have to contend with a Saw movie this Halloween. In other words: You better believe there will be a Paranormal Activity 4 trick-or-treating next year.
Two other wide releases stood by watching while PA3 grabbed all the candy. The PG-13 steampunk action film The Three Musketeers debuted in fourth place with just $2.9 million on Friday, putting it on track for a weekend tally of about $8 million. And the PG-rated British spy comedy Johnny English Reborn, starring Rowan Atkinson, mustered only $1.1 million on Friday and is on pace for $4 million this weekend. Both movies, however, have already been playing overseas for several weeks. Musketeers has so far grossed $49 million in foreign countries since opening on Sept. 1, while Johnny English Reborn has earned a potent $85.1 million overseas since Sept. 15.
Among holdovers, Footloose was in second with $3.5 million on Friday — a small 36-percent decline for the ’80s remake. Real Steel was right behind, dropping only 31 percent for $3.1 million. Second place may be a photo finish between the two movies, as Real Steel will likely pick up more steam on Saturday thanks to family audiences. And the political thriller The Ides of March slipped 33 percent for $1.5 million — enough for fifth place. Check back on Sunday for the complete box-office report.
1. Paranormal Activity 3 — $26.2 mil
2. Footloose — $3.5 mil
3. Real Steel — $3.1 mil
4. The Three Musketeers — $2.9 mil
5. The Ides of March — $1.5 mil
Box office preview: Paranormal Activity 3 should scare up some much-needed business
EW must be really excited that Footloose held up, they have been promoting the hell out of it for weeks!..Three Musketeers looked like a turd in 3D not surprised it bombed!
It did not have the Ryan Gosling effect so it was bound to fail…like I said the other day if it had Ryan Gosling singing ‘Holding Out For a Hero” while fighting Vampires in 3D, EW would call it the most important film of All-Time!
EW is soooo biased!! must be in the pay-roll of She-Crest for promoting the movie of his beard! tee-hee!!
I know in your twisted psyche, you look at LOL as a role model, but quit trying to make “The Gosling Effect” trying to happen. It’s not going to.
Hang out with some real people instead.
Dude, do not compare me to LOL, last week , they said the Ryan Gosling effect was why The Ides Of March was making money, so I am making light of it, so Jack…Off!
Apparently ‘the Gosling effect’ means your movie will open to less than $13 million and then fall quickly from the top ten.
I guess you’re ignoring the fact that most of these movies got terrible reviews, and the lack of any kind of marketing for any of them would not translate into box office success or being number 1. You’re a moron.BTW,I wanna share a good news to you.My best friend ,she just has announced her wedding with a millionaire man who is a celebrity !they met via Millionaireloving.C óM ..it is the largest and best club for celebrity and their admirers to chat online.You do not have to be rich or famous. ,but you can meet one , It’s worthy a try,Maybe you wanna check it out or tell your friends!
my buddy makes $71 hourly on the internet. She has been without work for 6 months but last month her pay was $6411 just working on the internet for a few hours. Here’s the site CäshHard.cðm
Oh I can’t wait to see it!
Looks spooky! . Smoke and mirrors.
Best movie ever! I hope they make Jersey Shore into a movie.
‘Margin Call’, ‘The Mighty Macs’, ‘Oranges and Sunshine’, ‘Retreat’, ‘The Reunion’ and ‘Snowmen’ should have all gotten a nationwide theatrical release. If they were given a fair chance, any one of them could have been No. 1 this week and they deserve better than to be ignored by the public now. They all have interesting casts:
‘Margin Call’ – Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Penn Badgley, Simon Baker, Mary McDonnell, Demi Moore, Stanley Tucci
‘The Mighty Macs’ – Carla Gugino, David Boreanaz, Marley Shelton, Ellen Burstyn
‘Oranges and Sunshine’ – Emily Watson, Hugo Weaving
‘Retreat’ – Cillian Murphy, Jamie Bell, Thandie Newton
‘The Reunion’ – John Cena, Ethan Embry, Michael Rispoli, Amy Smart
‘Snowmen’ – Ray Liotta, Christopher Lloyd
Different name, same damn Spam message,Hate you spam bots!
That is a real person, your a moron dude.
“your a moron”
…this never gets old.
Well your a moron too.
lol…you muist be new to EW, the same thing gets posted every week, go back and watch TV!
“your a moron”?
If you’re going to call someone else a moron, at least spell “you’re” correctly.
I did, fool!
Try again. The correct spelling is “you’re”.
Apparently your reading comprehension leaves a lot to be desired as well.
No Child Left Behind strikes again…
B it ch your dumb two.
I guess you’re ignoring the fact that most of these movies got terrible reviews, and the lack of any kind of marketing for any of them would not translate into box office success or being number 1. You’re a moron.
You really should do your research before calling people names. Yes, The Reunion and The Mighty Macs got less than stellar reviews ( 9% and 45% on Rotten Tomatoes). However all of the others have been been decently reviewed, some you would have to say well reviewed. Margin Call – 85%. Retreat – 86%. Oranges and Sunshine – 71%. Snowmen – 60%( ok, marginal, but hardly terrible). I would agree that the marketing for all of these films was non-existent, but bad reviews were not the problem for most of them.
If Rain Man was a real person and living today, I would expect him to post comments very much like Rachel Bowden.
…wait what does Autism have to do with spambots? I sure don’t do it.
The Musketeers movies have been done to death and have become increasingly repetitious and monotonous. How many times have they made this same movie already? It’s the same story, just with different actors.
Just like with Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps and Too Big to Fail which were also about the global recession, Margin Call is a very important movie.
That is the Third Time you made the same damn comment, Studio Shill!
Such a waste of money
“Marginal Balls’, ‘The Mighty Big Macs’, ‘Oranges and Other Produce’, ‘Reheated Crap’, ‘The Reunion Of Actors Nobody Cares About’ and ‘Snowmen’ should have all gotten a nationwide theatrical release. If they were given a fair chance, any one of them could have been No. 1 this week and they deserve better than to be ignored by the public now. They all have interesting casts:
‘Marginal Balls’ – Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Penn Badgley, Simon Baker, Mary McDonnell,Ashton Kutcher, Charlie Sheen, Demi Moore, Stanley Tucci
‘The Mighty Big Macs’ – John Goodman, Rosie O’Donnell, Mellissa McCarthy Jessica Simpson, Christina Aguilera
‘Oranges and Other Produce’ – Anne Hathaway, Rico Romero, Shane Ruiz, Gauadalupe Ramirez
‘Reheated Crap’ – Cillian Murphy, Jamie Bell, Thandie Newton, Julianne Hough, Kelsey Grammer
‘The Reunion of Actors Nobody Cares About’ – John Cena, Ethan Embry, Michael Rispoli, Amy Smart
‘Snowmen’ – Ray Liotta, Christopher Lloyd
I saw Paranormal Activity 3 at midnight on thursday. Although I like all of the installments, I think the third was the best. What I also liked about it was that it didn’t cater to the lowest common denominator of people who only want blood and gore thrown at them instead of smart chills.
is that so Paid Studio Shill?
Dominic posts all the time. I think he’s legit. He dug the flick. How come everytime someone compliments a movie they are immediately accused of being a studio plant? Every once in a while someone has an enjoyable time at the movies.
Ok but there are so many Studio shills that post on here now, it is hard to tell them apart, right now there is one that keeps posting about ‘Narrow Margin” if you are a legite moviegoer you have my apologies Dominic!
Oz, I’m proud of you buddy. I do however realize that these people do exist on here and it’s sometimes hard to tell the difference.
Paranormal Activity 3 was so much better than I thought it would be, and they gave you just enough creeps to think about it too. Everyone who are complaining that they didnt show much of what was in the trailer SHOUDL BE GLAD, a 84 minute film, they show almost half the movie in the previews! PA3 is a legit franchise now, glad they fleshed out the backstory and left room for more movies for a couple more years! And if Paranomral Activity ain’t your thing go rent the 1980 ghost film The Changeling and see if you sleep alone tonight !
America loves crap.
Judging from how well Johnny English is doing internationally and how poorly it is doing in America, I’d say that’s a pretty good case for how much the rest of the world loves crap.
Well said!
and so do you LOL !
No wonder America loves LOL’S mom
Please go see 3 Musketeers. It’s really good. Yours, Logan Lerman
Logan Lerman is crap, for saying that!
Different opinion from me? Piece of crap. ~Bigot’s code of conduct.
Well I was disappointed in the fact that what you see in the trailer you wont see in the theater. I did like some of the new effects but the movie still hollywood written all over it!! I give it a 2 out of 5.
They need to retire The Three Musketeers for 100 years (see also: Robin Hood and Zoro).
would add Dracula and Alice in Wonderland to that list!
And a pre-emptive add of Snow White which has like 4 movies about to come out.
It is the new “Saw.” A decent first movie followed by a bunch of lame sequels.
Sorry, I forgot that the third movie is a “prequel.” That makes a huuuuge difference.
what a shame. PA3 was crap. America loves crap.
posting under a different name LOL?
Woo hoo for PA3. I have seen them al and love them. Good scary suspenseful movies without gore.