Paramount's Paranormal Activity 4 had no trouble topping the domestic box office chart with $30.2 million, but lagged notably behind the last two films in the hit Halloween franchise.
Overseas, it's the opposite. The R-rated pic is pacing ahead of the previous films in the series and opened to $26.5 million from 33 markets for a worldwide debut of $56.7 million. Paranormal 4 is guaranteed to be an enormous profit generator for Paramount and the producers, considering it cost just $5 million to produce.
Paramount president of domestic marketing and distibution Megan Colligan tells THR that there will be a Paranormal Activity 5, and that it will hit theaters next October. Also, there will be a spin-off released earlier next year targeted Hispanics.
Still, there are signs of franchise fatigue in North America, where Paranormal 4's opening was 43 percent behind Paranormal Activity 3's $52.6 million debut a year ago and 26 percent behind Paranormal Activity 2's opening in 2009.
Overseas, Paranormal 4 opened 11 percent ahead of Paranormal and 25 percent ahead of Paranormal 2.
"This played the way sequels often play, in terms of becoming stronger internationally. There is a lot of life left in this franchise," Colligan said.
Studio insiders say there is much more competition at the North American box office this October as a number of films -- including holdovers Taken 2, Argo, Hotel Transylvania and last weekend's new horror offering Sinister -- continue to overperform. They're not wrong.
Summit Entertainment's Sinister in particular was problematic for Paranormal 4 (both films were produced by Jason Blum's Blumhouse). The film fell only 50 percent in its second weekend -- a good hold for the genre horror -- to gross $9 million for a domestic cume of $32 million.
Ben Affleck's awards darling Argo, placing No. 3, enjoyed a record hold in its second weekend, grossing $16.6 million and falling only 15 percent for a domestic cume of $43.2 million. That's the slimmest decline for a non-holiday live-action film, according to Warners.
Sony's hit 3D toon Hotel Transylvania edged out Fox's Taken 2 to come in No. 3, grossing $13.5 million for a domestic total of $119 million.
Taken 2 jumped the $100 million mark in its third weekend, grossing $13.4 million for a domestic haul of $106 million.
Summit's new entry Alex Cross -- starring Tyler Perry as the fabled Washington, D.C detective popularized in James Patterson's book series -- grossed a soft $11.8 million to place No. 5. Directed by Rob Cohen, the film stars Matthew Fox as a serial killer purused by Fox.
Alex Cross, receiving an A CinemaScore, represents a different role for Perry, but his fanbase turned out in force. Conversely, the film was soft outside African-American markets, despite a targeted marketing campaign geared towards Patterson fans (African-Americans made up 74 percent of the audience).
Alex Cross was fully financed and produced by QED International.
At the specialty box office, Fox Searchlight's The Sessions enjoyed a promising start, grossing $121,005 from four theaters for a location average of $30,251. Star John Hawkes is generating early awards interest for his performance (he stars opposite Helen Hunt).