HILARY SWANK - THE "LITTLE FILM THAT COULD" DID

THE "LITTLE FILM THAT COULD" DID

In an outcome that appears about as paranormal as anything that Hollywood has ever produced, Paramount's $15,000 film Paranormal Activity rose to the top of the weekend box office, taking in $22 million and easily defeating Lionsgate's champion fright franchise Saw , which in its sixth iteration took in just $14.8 million. Moreover, the victory came after four weeks of limited release. And although it doubled the number of screens over the weekend to about 1,900, they still represented fewer than two-thirds of the some 3,000 theaters that screened Saw VI . Some box-office prognosticators had forecast that the Lionsgate movie would earn twice what it actually did. A year ago, Saw V opened with $30.1 million. Indeed, the overall box office experienced a steep decline, down nearly 10 percent from a year ago as other newcomers flopped. Summit Entertainment's animated Astro Boy opened with just $7 million, putting it in sixth place, while Universal's Cirque du Freak The Vampire's Assistant debuted in eighth place with only $6.3 million. Fox Searchlight's Amelia , the biopic about famed aviatrix Amelia Earhart starring Hilary Swank in the title role, failed to make the top ten, coming in at No. 11 with $4 million.

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Box Office Mojo 1. Paranormal Activity, $22 million; 2. Saw VI , $14.8 million; 3. Where the Wild Things Are , $14.4 million; 4. Law Abiding Citizen , $12.7 million; 5. Couples Retreat , $11.1 million; 6. Astro Boy , $7 million; 7. The Stepfather , $6.5 million; 8. Cirque du Freak The Vampire's Assistant , $6.3 million; 9. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs , $5.6 million; 10. Zombieland, $4.3 million.

26/10/2009