what's tasty and new in show business. [beta]
Well, it looks like the Saw franchise’s reign of horror has lost a bit of its foothold in the late October box office. Micro-budgeted Paranormal Activity continued to steamroll the competition in theaters, finally taking the top spot in its fifth weekend of release with an estimated $22 million.
That brings Paranormal’s total to a hefty $62.5 million. To put that into perspective, that’s over 4000 times more than the $15,000 it cost to make. Ridiculous. Saw VI pulled in a not-disgusting $14.8 million in its 2nd place debut, but that’s less than half of what Saw V made in its bow last year in the same frame. Lionsgate execs probably paled visibly today after hearing that Paramount is considering a Paranormal Activity 2 (which, for the record, is probably about as good an idea as Blair Witch 2 was). As tired as I am of Jigsaw, I can at least see why the Saw formula works in a franchise. There’s a certain novelty to Paranormal Activity that I’m not sure can be captured in a sequel.
Meanwhile, Where the Wild Things Are, last week’s number 1, plummeted 56% to 3rd with a $14.4 million haul. It’s $54 million total is still well shy of its $100 million budget. Law Abiding Citizen dropped to 4th with $12.7 million, and Couples Retreat rounded out the top 5 with an $11.1 million weekend. Read»
Lots of posters rolling off the presses today, and whaddaya know, they’re all pretty cool!
We’ve got posters for Lars von Trier’s latest Antichrist, in all its creepy gothic glory; The Crazies, the remake of George Romero’s 1973 film of the same name (though the synopsis claims to be only loosely based on the original, the premise still follows a small town and its residents, some of which have been infected by a mysterious toxin that makes people turn crazy and start killing otherwise merry folk); and The Messenger, the directorial debut of I’m Not There writer Oren Moverman that follows an army man (Ben Foster) who has the unfortunate job of informing families that a loved one has died in combat.
Check out the posters after the jump. Read»
