Weekend Wrap-Up: Paranormal Inactivity
October 22, 2012
As everyone was expecting,
Before the weekend, the prediction column mentioned a worst case scenario for Paranormal Activity 4 of $30 million. Over the weekend, it opened with $29.00 million. ... So it's a disaster, right? After all, it opened with less than the worst case scenario. Not quite. The film only cost $5 million to make and it likely costs under $25 million to advertise, so the film's combined budget is less than its opening weekend box office. That makes it a financial success. It's no wonder Paranormal Activity 5 has already been given the greenlight. However, given this film's internal multiplier and its reviews, it's probably best if the studio wraps up the franchise sooner rather than later, as it is bound to crash and burn, at least on the domestic front.
Argo remained in second place with $16.45 million over the weekend for a total of $43.01 million after two weeks of release. Its sophomore stint drop-off was a mere 15% and that's better than the best case scenario. Even given its reviews and its target demographic, this was a fantastic hold. It certainly increases its chances at $100 million, while it should last long enough in theaters to build up more Awards Season buzz.
With the number one film missing expectations, Taken 2 had a little more breathing room and it earned $13.26 million over the weekend for a total of $105.83 million after three weeks of release. It became the 20th film of 2012 to reach the century mark.
Hotel Transylvania was right behind with $13.00 million over the weekend, while the film has $118.52 million so far. At this pace, the film could reach $150 million in total, which is enough to ensure a profit and encourage the studio to start seriously thinking about a sequel.
Alex Cross failed to make much of an impact at the box office with $11.40 million. The reviews were atrocious with just about every aspect of the film savaged by critics. Tyler Perry arguably came off the best, as the most common description of his performance was, "miscast". Matthew Fox was not treated as kindly by the critics, but the most vicious attacks were levied at the script and the directing. If the studio was hoping to make a franchise out of this character, it's not going to happen now.
It was a busy week on the sophomore class with four films missing the top five. Sinister came the closest down 51% to $8.81 million over the weekend for a total of $31.74 million after two. This is pretty good, given the genre and the direct competition. Here Comes the Boom held on even better down just 29% to $8.41 million, but it started slower so its running tally is just $23.13 million. Its per theater average is low enough that it will quickly start losing theaters. Likewise, Seven Psychopaths held on really, really well down just 22%, but it still fell out of the top ten with just $3.27 million. Its running tally is just $9.16 million, which is disappointing, but hopefully it will do better on the home market. On the other hand, Atlas Shrugged: Part II utterly collapsed with just $614,000 over the weekend for a total of $2.86 million after two. Had it opened with that much, it would have been disappointing.
Filed under: Weekend Estimates, Hotel Transylvania, Here Comes the Boom, Taken 2, Argo, Sinister, Paranormal Activity 4, Alex Cross, Seven Psychopaths, Atlas Shrugged: Part II, Matthew Fox, Tyler Perry