Out with the old, in with the new. Many people were speculating that the Saw franchise would go head to head with the Paranormal Activity franchise every October, after they had a dueling horror theme this past Halloween. It looks like Activity may have won that battle, as there is already a plan for a third film to release next October, and Lionsgate has no plans on continuing the Saw franchise. From Variety.

Paramount has greenlit “Paranormal Activity 3” for production with plans to release the pic on Oct. 21.

Insiders said the pic’s original helmer, Oren Peli, and producer Jason Blum will have some part in the creative process but their roles are yet to be determined.

The first two “Paranormal Activity” pics revolved around a family haunted by an evil spirit, with both films lensed in the found footage style.The films have grossed a total of more than $300 million at the worldwide box office.

Saw 3D won the  weekend box office, to no one’s surprise.  The perennial Halloween franchise made its 7th (and presumably final) bow at the box office with a healthy $22.5M.  It is reported that almost 90% of that total is from 3D screens. If you factor in Thursday midnight showings, the total is $24.2M.

Although the film did much better than its predecessor, Saw VI ($14.1M) it still was only the fifth best Saw debut.

Last week’s champ Paranormal Activity 2 tumbled about 59% from last week for $16.5.  That’s a pretty steep drop, but fairly typical for a horror movie. With a measly $3M budget, the film is hugely profitable, looking at almost $65M in its first two weeks. Guess we know what our next Halloween franchise will be.

Red continues to defy expectations, and only dropped 28% in its third week, for $10.8M.  The film has quietly made $58.9M over three weeks.  Take that, naysayers.

Jackass 3D crossed the $100M mark this weekend, despite dropping 61% from last weekend. Clint Eastwood’s Hereafter came in at the number five spot, but continues to struggle.  The film has made about $22M after three weeks, which is less than half of its budget.

Next week, Due Date, For Colored Girls, and Megamind vie for the top spot.

After some truly disappointing weekends at the box office for horror movies (Hatchet 2, Pirahna 3D, Let Me In, My Soul to Take) fans can finally breathe easy that the genre is alive and well.  Paranormal Activity 2 catapulted to the top of the pack this weekend, and easily exceeded expectations to earn around $41M.

That was good enough to shatter a few records.  The movie broke the opening weekend record previously held by the 2009 Friday the 13th reboot in 2009.  It also made a cool $6.3M on Thursday midnight showings.

In comparison, Paranormal Activity made about $21M over its opening weekend.

Jackass 3D managed to claim the number two slot. The film tumbled over 57% from last weekend, but still made an impressive $21.6M.  Its two week total is now over $87M.

Comedy/Drama/Thriller Red only dropped 31%, and added $15M to its two week cumulative of $43M.

Clint Eastwood’s ethereal after-life drama made about $12M.  That might sound paltry, but it only played on about 2,100 screens, and had an okay per/screen average of  $5,500, which puts it in the top three per/screen averages for the weekend.  The film came in number four for the overall box office.

The first Paranormal Activity was a bit of a phenomenon. It managed to capture the attention of audiences and also be a pretty scary movie that you wouldn’t necessarily want to watch in a dark room alone. Naturally, when something is a success as the first film was, people want to try and capitalize on that success. Thus we have the inevitable Paranormal Activity 2.

The first trailer for the sequel has arrived and with it we get our first chance to see if the magic of the first film can be recaptured. After watching the trailer a few times I think I can safely say it probably can’t and won’t. Still, I give the filmmakers props for trying. I’m just concerned we might have another Blair Witch 2 situation on our hands. And really, nobody wants that.

Judge for yourself and check out the trailer after the jump. Paranormal Activity 2 hits theaters on October 22.

Last August, a small film called Paranormal Activity swept the nation, making nearly $200 Million to date, worldwide, and creeping out just about every teen who walked into the theater. On the other side, 2009 was the 6th consecutive year that Lionsgate and Twisted Pictures put out a film in the Saw franchise. To date, Saw VI has only made $60 Million worldwide.

Since 2005, a Saw film has always dominated the theaters on the weekend of or just before Halloween. Granted, October is infamous for being the worst financial time of year for films and it still holds strong. Now, it seems the sequel to Paranormal Activity will be coming out to directly compete with the next Saw film, and they plan to be victorious. From Variety:

Paramount is committed to meeting the Oct. 22 release date for “Paranormal Activity 2,” which pits the sequel directly against “Saw VII 3D.”

“Saw VII” has already tried to bloody “Paranormal 2” once. Kevin Greutert was circling to direct “Paranormal 2” when Lionsgate and Twisted Pictures exercised an option requiring Greutert to direct the seventh installment in the “Saw” franchise.