Paramount has struck gold again with Paranormal Activity 2, the $3 million budgeted sequel that raked in an estimated $19.7 million in ticket sales at the North American box office on Friday after breaking the R-rated midnight opening mark with $6.3 million. The film should easily surpass $30 million through Sunday and could make a push for $40 million if word of mouth drives additional moviegoers, or drop like a rock if the core audience already caught it on Friday.
The other new film this weekend, Clint Eastwood’s Hereafter with Matt Damon, played to expectations with $4 million on Friday and should finish the weekend somewhere in the $10 to $11 million range.
Paramount landed second place as well with Jackass 3D in its second week of release. It continues to perform strong and march towards $100 million with an additional $7.7 million tacked on Friday. Third place on Friday went to Summit’s Red with a strong $4.5 and fifth to The Social Network with $2.3 million.
Check back tomorrow for the complete estimated weekend box office results.
