Corona | Coming Attractions

The ghostly hauntings documented in Paranormal Activity 4 attracted audiences for the fourth straight year in a row, with this latest installment continuing the franchise's performance of opening in first place at the box office. Ticket sales are estimated to be $30.2 million dollars this weekend for Paranormal Activity 4, which is definitely good enough to give it the top spot.

However, when viewed against the other Paranormal Activity movies' opening weekends, PA 4 is the worst. Last year Paranormal Activity 3 opened with $40.6 million dollars, and the year before that Paranormal Activity 2 opened with $52.5m. It seems that the audience for the series might be shrinking because they're tapped out with the concept. While that may be true, the Paranormal Activity movies are extremely profitable for Paramount Pictures, with their budgets coming in under $5 million dollars. PA 4 made another $25 million dollars from international showings this past weekend, bringing its worldwide box office up to $55 million. Even if the audience is dwindling for the franchise, I expect one or two more of these to be made before it come to an end.

Ben Affleck held the second spot for the second weekend in a row. Argo grossed an estimated $16.6m bringing its ten day total to $30.2m.

Hotel Transylvania moved up a spot to #3 ($13.5m new, $119m total.)

Taken 2 fell three spots to #4 with $13.4m in new ticket sales. Its three week total now stands at $105.9m.

Hopes for a new thriller franchise starring Tyler Perry seem to have burst. In its opening weekend Perry's Alex Cross only netted $11.7 million dollars, a weak turnout for one of the actor's typical Madea movies.

The horror-filled Sinister continue to draw in seasonal interest, coming in at #6 with an additional $9 million (for a two week total of $31.9m.)

Kevin James sees his new comedy Here Comes the Boom drop two spots to #7 ($8.5m new, $23.2m total.)

The musical Pitch Perfect also descends two positions to #8 ($7m new, $45.7m total.)

Frankenweenie, the other Halloween-themed animated movie, isn't doing as well as Hotel Transylvania. Tim Burton's movie is down to #9 and with its latest weekend gross of $4.4m, the film has only rustled up $28.3m domestically.

At at #10 we've got Rian Johnson's sci-fi actioner Looper, which is doing moderate-to-better business. Likely helped by having Bruce Willis starring in it as an older Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Looper earned another $4.2m this weekend to bring its four-week total up to $57.8m.