Oh late October, how you are filled with mystery and intrigue in regards to the Box Office. Last year at this time the third Paranormal Activity ‘film’ set October records with a huge opening. This year another record has been set on this weekend, but not by the sequel to the found footage ghost-a-palooza.
But first we must report on the winner of this weekend, and we use that term loosely. Paranormal Activity 4 could only muster about $30 Million in its opening frame. Now I know what you are saying: ‘Hey, pompous box office reporting guy, $30 Million is a huge first weekend this time of year, especially for a cheap film with a built-in home video audience.’ You would be 100% right, but in this day and age of sequels and remakes, success is often judged on the franchise average and not the actual performance. In that light, PA4 is going to go down as the worst performing of the bunch, and probably by a wide margin too.
Over on the happier end of the spectrum is the growing beast that is Argo. Last weekend the film came in a close second with a solid near $20 Million weekend. This weekend it did something rather incredible, Argo only dropped 14.6% with a total close to $17 Million. This is the best hold ever for a film in such a wide release over a non holiday weekend. Word of mouth has not just buoyed the film, but it has turned a nice performing movie into a record breaker, and one that will likely get much more attention before direct competition arrives in the form of Bond, Jame Bond. Argo was not the only film with a strong hold over the weekend, Hotel Transylvania also managed to ease slightly as it is fast becoming Sony Animation’s highest grossing film ever. You already know why this is good news for animation fans, and if you don’t I suggest you start reading these reports weekly, I don’t like to repeat myself.
Normally if the film didn’t crack the top 3, or have some major interest to our readership it doesn’t get a ton of coverage in this space, but an exception should be made, Alex Cross bombed hard this weekend. This is a shame for two major reasons, one Matthew Fox looks like he gives a fantastic and crazy performance as the villain, and two, we as a film community need to teach Tyler Perry that it is OK to not make Madea movies. Alas this became one of Perry’s biggest bombs to date and he is no doubt working on Madea’s Something Something: Gimme Your Moneyz as we speak. Well done movie going public, you have only yourselves to blame.
Next weekend is basically Halloween weekend, so theoretically Paranormal has a chance at a solid hold, holding your breath is not recommended. Instead we suggest you get your scares on with Silent Hill: Revelation 3D instead. You should see it because it is a direct sequel to one of the better video game adaptations ever made, but also because of Sean Bean. Let’s give Agent 006, Lord Eddard Stark of the House Gondor a big hit, the man deserves it after the shaft he got in the Goldeneye video game reboot!
