October 23, 2011 by Vinnie Leduc
Paranormal Activity 3 scored and scared up a new high for the low-budget found footage franchise. Its estimated $54 million debut this weekend at the domestic box office shattered Paranormal Activity 2‘s opening horror record of $40.7 million set last year and also beat Jackass 3D‘s $50.4 million for biggest fall opening ever. This bumped back-to-back champ Real Steel to the runner-up spot. Like many of the holdovers this weekend, the robo-boxing crowdpleaser did not decline tremendously.
The real losers were newcomers The Three Musketeers and Johnny English Reborn, which opened at No. 4 and No. 8, respectively. While the Rowan Atkinson spy spoof can afford a weak opening due to its overwhelming popularity in international markets, Paul W.S. Anderson’s 3D action-adventure did not have that luxury. Maybe he should stick to the Resident Evil movies.
Here were the top 5 in the domestic box office last weekend via BOM:
- Paranormal Activity 3 — Weekend Gross: $54 million — Total Gross: $54 million (new)
- Real Steel — Weekend Gross: $11.3 million — Total Gross: $67.2 million (#1 last week)
- Footloose — Weekend Gross: $10.9 million — Total Gross: $30.9 million (#2 last week)
- The Three Musketeers — Weekend Gross: $8.8 million — Total Gross: $8.8 million (new)
- The Ides of March — Weekend Gross: $4.9 million — Total Gross: $29.2 million (#3 last week)
