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.]]>

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.

The other new wide releases all fared rather dismally, particularly Astro Boy. The animated flick only managed to gross $7 million in its 6th place bow, while Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant bombed in 8th place with $6.3 million. Amelia, which only opened in 818 theaters, pulled in an unspectacular $4 million.

In the specialty market, Lars von Trier’s Antichrist opened with $73,500 in 6 theaters, or a $12,250 average. Uma Thurman’s latest comedy Motherhood bowed in 48 venues with $57,700, or a $1,202 per-theater average.

Next week, the lone wide opener will be the highly-anticipated doc This Is It, which covers the behind-the-scenes and rehearsals of Michael Jackson’s London concert tour. Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day also opens in limited release, hitting in 65 theaters around the country. The record stands at 48 for 60.

Check out the top 12 below, or head over to Box Office Mojo for the full weekend chart:

New releases highlighted in yellow

Check out the posters after the jump.]]> 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.

First up is Antichrist, which has been rolling out at several film festivals and will hit On Demand channels and theaters at the same time, this October 23. /film has the exclusive; click the image below to see the whole piece of art:

The Crazies poster comes courtesy of Overture films. The film stars Timothy Olyphant, Radha Mitchell, Joe Anderson, and Danielle Panabaker. It hits theaters on February 26, 2010.

And finally, the poster for Iraq war drama The Messenger. Though the sub-genre has produced mostly middling films that never quite strike the right chord, I think we can have a little more faith in this one considering the buzz out of festivals and that it’s coming from Moverman. Both Foster and Woody Harrelson are supposed to be particularly brilliant in this one, so I’m excited to see how it turned out. Cinematical has the exclusive, and you can click the image below to see the full one-sheet:

The Messenger is slated for a November 13 release.