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.  

Last week I made mention that this weekend would be dominated by The Hunger Games. I never like to revel in such an easy victory, but for this week I will grant myself a little pardon.

The weekend was dominated by the new film that captured everyone’s hearts. The Hunger Games brought in a staggering $155 Million at the box office.  In just three days the film has already become the highest grossing film from Lionsgate productions ever.

The monstrous opening number is the third highest all time, coming in third behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt 2 and The Dark Knight. The number was also the highest among all non-sequels and non-franchises of all time.