Box Office, Paranormal Activity | featured news

The Halloween threequel is pacing well ahead of the previous two pics; Paul W.S. Anderson's "The Three Musketeers" and the Rowan Atkinson action-comedy "Johnny English Reborn" don't find much love in the U.S. Far exceeding expectations, Paranormal Activity 3 grossed a massive $26.2 million on Friday, putting it on course to earn as much as $50 million for the weekend and score the best opening in nearly four months at the domestic box office on the strength of both younger and older moviegoers.

Micro-budget thriller hacks the box office crown from perennial pre-Halloween chart topper ''Saw'' ($14.8M)

The big story this weekend is the pre-Halloween box office -- the horror, the horror of it all -- and how Saw VI, which has been a disgusting but reliably performing franchise over the years for Lionsgate, was decimated Friday by Paranormal Activity -- despite the Paramount phenom playing in 1,100+ less theaters during its 5th week of release.

The new horror movie "Paranormal Activity" could be filling movie studio marketing departments with fear. Using a campaign of limited showings, social media and word-of-mouth fan buzz, the film has managed to become a breakout hit without the aid of a glitzy marketing campaign -- or even a traditional movie trailer.