Made on a reported $3m, Tod Williams‘ Paranormal Activity 2 far surpassed pundits’ expectations (ranging $25-30m), taking in an estimated $41.5m on opening weekend (including $6.3m from late-night Thursday screenings) in the US/Canada, according to studio estimates found at Box Office Mojo.
Paranormal Activity 2, which has a mediocre 53% approval rating among Rotten Tomatoes‘ "Top Critics," averaged $12,904 (including Thursday screening) at 3,216 locations.
Looking at Box Office Mojo’s daily chart, Paranormal Activity 2 was down a whopping 35.2% on Saturday — but that’s because Friday’s take included the aforementioned $6.3m from Thursday screenings. Without that extra bonus, Friday and Saturday figures remained steady.
For comparison’s sake: Back in 1999, The Blair Witch Project went wide on its third weekend, grossing $29.2m at 1,101 theaters, averaging $26,528 per venue. In 2010 dollars, that would translate into approximately $45.6m and $41,515 per theater.
Not adjusted for inflation, Paranormal Activity 2 boasts the fifth ever biggest Fall opening, after four scary-sounding flicks: Jackass 3D, Scary Movie 3, Shark Tale, and High School Musical 3: Senior Year.
Marketing costs for the Paranormal Activity sequel/prequel have reportedly hovered around $25m — or more than 8 times the film’s production budget. Money well spent, obviously.
In fact, film distributors/marketers should take courses from the people who sold both Paranormal Activity movies — and Jackass 3D, too, of course.
Photo: Paramount Pictures
The First Paranormal Activity was a welcome treat. A low budget film that was really good. Paranormal Activity 2 just seems like they are cashing in on the success of the first film. bummer