Quite a year for big openings in the box office 2011 has been. We’ve seen films like Dolphin Tale and Lion King 3D take over in even the biggest markets, and big films like Green Lantern fall flat on its face. Now we’re getting another surprise, as the third film in Paramount’s Paranormal Activity franchise broke records for October and Fall opening weekends, pulling in $54 million over the three days.

Not only is this the biggest weekend for the franchise, but at $80 million worldwide already, we expect 3 to be the highest grossing Paranormal Activity film, and possibly the highest grossing film of all time, with a production budget of $5 million.

Other openings this weekend, Summit’s Three Musketeers barely made any waves, pulling in just under $9 million in the domestic box office, and $73 million worldwide. Meanwhile, people overseas still seem to love Mr. Bean, as Johnny English Reborn pulled in $108.3 million worldwide, and only $3.8 million in the domestic box office.

Next weekend, you can expect Paranormal to do well again, as its Halloween weekend, but it may have some competition with Paramount’s Puss in Boots and Fox’s sci-fi epic In Time. We’ll have to see what happens next weekend!

After nearly a month of children’s films make the number 1 spot in the box office, we finally get a film that isn’t just appealing to kids, but kids of all ages! That’s right, Hugh Jackman’s robot fighting flick Real Steel managed to pull off the top of the box office with just over $27 million.

That brings the film’s total gross worldwide to a solid $49.4 million, which isn’t bad for the film that was released in both standard theaters and IMAX.

Also hitting theaters this past weekend, the George Clooney written/directed political drama Ides of March was able to start strong with $10.4 million. Not terrible for the worst month of the year for the box office.

After the first two slots, more of the same that we’ve seen for a while now. Dolphin Tale came in at #3 with $9 million, while Moneyball hit at #4 with $7.5 and the cancer comedy 50/50 dropped down to $5.5 million.

Next weekend looks to be the weekend of remakes, as Footloose opens to 3,300 screens, while The Thing opens to 2,900. Also hitting theaters is the Fox comedy The Big Year, starring Owen Wilson, Jack Black, and Steve Martin. Could be a tough call for those who love mediocrity.

Just when you thought things couldn’t get more bizarre than seeing a film that was originally released in 1994 making #1 in the box office two weeks in a row, how about a film about a dolphin hitting #1 after it’s second week.

That’s right, Warner Bros’ Dolphin Tale managed to pull together $14.2 Million this weekend, bringing it in as the #1 winner for the three days. The film has only hit a total gross of $37.5, just slightly more than its production budget.

In second this week, Brad Pitt’s Moneyball came in with an estimated $12.5. All the while, Lion King in 3D is still creeping up on $100 Million, with an estimated $11 Million this weekend, bringing it to a total of $79.6 for the re-release.

It seems, according to this weekend’s box office report, that audiences still aren’t tired of 1994’s Lion King, even 17 years later. The film’s re-release in 3D has made the #1 spot again in two weeks, bringing in $22 million this weekend.

That ranks the film up to over $60 million in 3D, and over $400 million combined with the film’s original domestic total from the 90s. Not too shabby for a film that ripped off a Japanese anime series from the 50s.

The rest of the weekend’s releases weren’t too shabby, either. Brad Pitt’s Moneyball, which almost didn’t get made, pulled in $20.6 million at the #2 spot, while Morgan Freeman’s adventure saving a sea mammal in Dolphin Tale came in 3rd with just over $20.2 million.

The big flops of the weekend came in the form of the #3 and #4 spots. Taylor Lautner’s attempt at being Matt Damon in Abduction brought in $11 million, which is less than a third of the film’s production budget.

All the while, the action-packed Killer Elite, which had a production budget of $70 million, only brought in $9.5. Not a good sign for the DeNiro/Statham/Owen on-screen team.

Next weekend, a few possible sleeper hits with Universal’s Dream House, cancer drama 50/50, and the romantic comedy What’s Your Number?. Who will win? We’ll find out in one week!