The Weekend Report: October 25, 2009

The little chiller that could -- Paranormal Activity -- ascended to the top of the movie-going charts with an estimated $21.6 million. That was bad news for the launch of the latest installment of the Saw horror franchise with its sixth installment drawing less than half the box office of the prior edition with $14.8 million.

The other new national releases also underperformed with the big screen version of Astro Boy grossing $6.8 million, the mawkish Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant a notch behind with $6.2 million and the biopic Amelia airless on a wing and a prayer of $3.9 million.

Limited and exclusive debuts weren’t appreciably better though Lars von Trier’s AntiChrist managed a decent $12,450 theater average at six venues. The steam was running thin from the umpteenth re-issue of The Nightmare Before Christmas and new entries including Motherhood, Ong-Bak 2 and (Untitled) garnered neither critical plaudits nor tidy commercial returns.

Adding it all up, the marketplace experienced rollbacks from last weekend and the comparable frame in 2008.

The bright spot in multiplexes was unquestionably Paranormal Activity. Finally attaining national exposure in its fifth week in release, the film maintained a very impressive $11,120 theater average and while it’s unlikely to attain Blair Witch status, the ultra low budget spine tingler appears to be the most profitable release of the year on a cost to return basis.

The session also saw good holds for last weekend freshmen Law Abiding Citizen and The Stepfather. But the adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are fell precipitously.

The new entries pretty much took it on the chin. The previously robust record of the graphically violent Saw series anticipated a modest slice to $25 million from last year’s $30 million bow of edition V. However, familiarity bred ticket buyer contempt and the ironic juxtaposition of its "show all" with the snowballing appeal of Paranormal’s "let your mind imagine the worst" shouldn’t be lost on the industry.

Also, even low-ball expectations for Astro Boy and Amelia turned out to be buoyant. The former should have been apparent when it was commercially rejected in Japan where the character was spawned. Amelia, on iconographic aviator Earhart, received some of the worst reviews of the year and the core audience obviously took those words to heart.

Overall ticket sales translated into revenues just shy of $120 million. That represented a 13% slide from the prior weekend and an 11% dip from 2008. Last year the openings of High School Musical 3 and Saw V debuted with respective box office of $42 million and $30.1 million.

Among the platform releases, A Serious Man and An Education continue to have effective response on glacial roll outs while Coco Before Chanel is holding steady in limited exposure. And the stealth commerciality of live opera -- this weekend the venerable Aida -- remains an under-appreciated steady earner.

by Leonard Klady