DESPITE AUDIENCE COMPLAINTS, PARANORMAL 3 SETS BOX-OFFICE RECORD

Even as many movie-related blogs were being swamped with complaints from people who had seen Paranormal Activity 3 on Friday and Saturday and regarded it as an overhyped ripoff, more moviegoers were nevertheless pouring into theaters on Sunday to see the movie, giving it the biggest opening of any new release ever in the months of September and October, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com. The movie earned $52.6 million, more than all the other films on the weekend’s top ten list of box-office earners combined. But while Paranormal Activity 3 far exceeded expectations, three other newcomers fell far short of them. The Three Musketeers opened in fourth place with just $8.7 million. Johnny English Reborn, a huge hit already overseas with earnings in excess of $100 million, flopped on this side of the pond, opening in eighth place with $3.8 million. And the inspirational Mighty Macs opened in 15th place with just $963,221. On the other hand, Real Steel and the relatively low-budget Footloose each dipped just 34 percent from last weekend to wind up in second and third place respectively.

The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Box Office Mojo (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date):
1. Paranormal Activity 3, Paramount, $52,568,183, (New); 2. Real Steel, Disney, $10,824,512, 3 Wks. ($66,732,152); 3. Footloose, Paramount, $10,351,207, (New); 4. The Three Musketeers, Summit, $8,674,452, (New); 5. The Ides of March, Sony, $4,853,051, 3 Wks. ($29,112,377); 6. Dolphin Tale, Warner Bros., $4,217,260, 5 Wks. ($64,407,935); 7. Moneyball, Sony, $3,981,852, 5 Wks. ($63,640,746); 8. Johnny English Reborn, Universal, $3,833,300, (New); 9. The Thing, Universal, $3,069,875, 2 Wks. ($14,049,220); 10. 50/50, Summit, $2,835,208, 3 Wks. ($28,820,748).