After weeks of climbing the charts while in limited release, “Paranormal Activity” grabs #1

Wow… “Paranormal Activity” is in its widest release yet this weekend, but still in 1,000 fewer theaters than “Saw VI”, the 6th installment in one of the most successful horror franchises at the box office… despite those odds, ‘Paranormal’ beat out its scary competition by $7 million.

“Where The Wild Things Are” is a close 3rd, and may slide into 2nd place when the final numbers come in.  Other new movies “Astro Boy”, “Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant”, and “Amelia” all made less than $10 million each and struggled to compete with returning movies.  The other limited release darling “A Serious Man” had the 2nd highest per theater average ($6,415) of the top 12 movies (2nd only to ‘Paranormal’’s $11,311)… “A Serious Man” won’t be in the Grand Rapids market until at least November 6th.

Overall, the weekend ($109.95 million) was down about 14% from last weekend’s huge weekend, but still the 2nd highest box office total of the fall movie season.

 TOP MOVIES AT WEEKEND BOX OFFICE (estimated results):
1. “Paranormal Activity” – $22.00 million
(5th week of limited release, was #3 last week, gained 12% – added 1,185 theaters from last week)

2. “Saw VI” – $14.80 million (1st week)

3. “Where The Wild Things Are” - $14.42 million
(2nd week, was #1 last week, lost 56% of audience from last week)

4. “Law Abiding Citizen” – $12.71 million
(2nd week, was #2 last week, lost 40% from last week)

5. “Couples Retreat” - $11.10 million
(3rd week, was #4 last week, lost 36% from last week)

6. “Astro Boy” – $7.02 million (1st week)

7. “The Stepfather” – $6.50 million
(2nd week, was #5 last week, lost 44% from last week)

8. “Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant” – $6.35 million (1st week)

9. “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” – $5.60 million
(6th week, was #6 last week, lost 30% from last week)

10. “Zombieland” – $4.30 million
(4th week, was #7 last week, lost 44% from last week)

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11. “Amelia” – $4.03 million (1st week)

12. “A Serious Man” – $1.13 million
(4th week of limited release, was #15 last week, gained 34% of audience, added 94 theaters)

CLICK HERE FOR LAST WEEK’S BOX OFFICE REPORT

“Paranormal Activity” poster courtesy Paramount

Box Office numbers courtesy Box Office Mojo