With only $30.2 million, Paranormal Activity 4 looks weak compared to the rest of the films in the franchise. This is the lowest opening for a Paranormal film since the first one, which began in only 12 theaters before going on to make over $107 million domestically.
For anyone wanting to call it disappointing, just remember, with a $5 million budget and $26.5 million already arriving internationally, there isn’t a lot of bad news when it comes to this franchise. And, yes, we an certainly expect a Paranormal Activity 5, which I presume will make even more than this one as it is likely to go back in time just as 3 did, a film that opened with over $52 million only a year ago.
When it comes to predictions, Laremy went high with his number on Thursday, predicting over $47 million, but several of the readers read the tea leaves differently, Dennis being the closest with an outstanding $30.1 million prediction.
Summit isn’t enjoying the weekend results as much as Paramount, however, as they expected something around $20 million for their franchise hopeful Alex Cross, but the latest adaptation of James Patterson’s popular character could only muster a weak $11.7 million.
It’s unfortunate the film wasn’t any better than it actually was considering it isn’t often we get an African American-led project, but Rob Cohen certainly wasn’t the director needed to usher this character back on to the big screen as a more discerning taste was necessary to make sure the material was ready to be filmed.
On the prediction side of things, Laremy again shot high and was off target with his $18.5 million prediction, counting on the Tyler Perry audience, only half of which apparently showed up. Of reader predictions, Will-E and The New Guy were closest with a $12 million while most were also in the high teens and some as high as $26.9 million.
Putting aside the week’s new releases for a second, the big story of the weekend is Ben Affleck’s Argo, which many saw as a disappointment last weekend when it opened to $19.4 million. Well, one week later and things are looking much brighter and some WB execs are smiling along with fans of solid, adult cinema. Argo pulled in $16.6 million this weekend for only a 15% drop from its opening and now sits at $43 million overall.
The film opened last week and received an “A+” CinemaScore from moviegoers and apparently that word-of-mouth is spreading and I expect it will continue next weekend where competition in its genre remains non-existent.
Finally, the “per theater” crown belongs to Fox Searchlight’s The Sessions, which opened in only four theaters this weekend and managed $121,005 for a $30,251 per theater average. I guess it also doesn’t hurt to mention the very excellent The Perks of Being a Wallflower is remaining strong, adding only 19 theaters this weekend and once again pulling in $2.1 million from 746 locations. Both of these films are films you need to see.
I have included the weekend top ten below and once actuals are in they will be updated automatically.
Next weekend sees the release of Chasing Mavericks, Cloud Atlas, Fun Size and Silent Hill: Revelation 3D and I can’t really tell what to expect.
I would assume Silent Hill is going to have it rough, coming at the tail end of both Sinister and Paranormal Activity an competing for eyes against Fun Size and Cloud Atlas. Cloud Atlas, however, won’t be going too high considering it is only looking to hit something around 1,950 theaters this weekend compared to the 2,800 Fun Size is looking to occupy. I put it to you, is Paranormal looking at a repeat or do you have faith elsewhere?
