Paranormal Activity 3 Sets New October Record with $54 Million

The ComingSoon.net Box Office Report has been updated with studio estimates for the weekend. Click here for the full box office estimates of the top 12 films and then check back on Monday for the final figures based on actual box office.

Paramount Pictures’ Paranormal Activity 3 set a new October opening record with an estimated $ 54 million from 3,321 domestic theaters, an average of $ 16,266 per theater. Costing just $ 5 million to make, not counting marketing, the film surpassed the $ 50.4 million debut of Jackass 3D last October and earned $ 13.3 million more than last year’s Paranormal Activity 2 ($ 40.7 million), the previous biggest horror opening. The third installment, directed by Catfish helmers Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, also took in $ 26 million overseas for a worldwide total of $ 80 million so far. The studio said the audience was 54% female and the movie received a C+ CinemaScore.

Paranormal Activity, which cost just $ 15,000 to make, kicked things off in 2009 with a worldwide gross of $ 193.4 million. It was followed in 2010 with Paranormal Activity 2, which brought in $ 177.5 million worldwide on a budget of just $ 3 million.

Real Steel, which topped the box office the last two weekends, dropped to second place and added $ 11.3 million from 3,412 theaters. The DreamWorks release, directed by Shawn Levy and starring Hugh Jackman, has earned $ 67.2 million domestically after three weeks.

Paramount’s Footloose held up strong its second weekend with a drop of just 30%. The remake collected $ 10.9 million in third place and has earned $ 30.9 million after two weeks.

Paul W.S. Anderson’s The Three Musketeers debuted in the fourth spot with $ 8.8 million from 3,017 theaters, an average of $ 2,917. Summit Entertainment released the $ 90 million action adventure in North America, but the film is doing better overseas with over $ 50 million so far. The movie stars Logan Lerman, Milla Jovovich, Matthew Macfadyen, Ray Stevenson, Luke Evans, Mads Mikkelsen, Gabriella Wilde, Juno Temple, Orlando Bloom and Christoph Waltz.

Sony’s The Ides of March rounded out the top five, bringing in $ 4.9 million its third weekend for a total of $ 29.2 million.

North American moviegoers showed no interest in Rowan Atkinson-starrer Johnny English Reborn, which earned just $ 3.8 million in eighth place from 1,552 theaters. Released by Universal domestically, the comedy has performed very well internationally, having grossed $ 104.5 million already.

More bad news for Universal was the fact that The Thing dropped 63% in ticket sales its second weekend and has taken in just $ 14.1 million.

In limited release, Sean Durkin’s psychological thriller Martha Marcy May Marlene collected $ 137,541 from just four theaters, an average of $ 34,385 per site. Also, Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey was released in just one theater where it earned $ 25,158.

Click here for the full box office results of the top 12 films.