PARANORMAL ACTIVITY

Written and directed by Oren Peli

Katie Featherston
Micah Sloat

Premiere date: September 25, 2009
R for language.

A haunted house makes no secret of the fact it is not pleased with its new tenants. Katie and Micah are a twentysomething couple who've just moved into a new home in San Diego, California. Katie has an interest in the paranormal and believes that malevolent spirits have been following her since childhood, though Micah is not so easily convinced. However, after several nights of loud noises and strange happenings, Micah starts to agree with Katie that some sort of ghost may have followed them to the new home. After a paranormal researcher tells the couple he can't help them, Micah decides to take control of the situation and sets up a battery of video cameras so that if a spirit manifests itself, he can capture its behavior on tape. Once the surveillance cameras are in place, Katie and Micah bring in a Ouija board in an effort to talk to the spirits, a move that deeply offends the ghosts.

Numbers: October 25, 2009

1. (3) Paranormal Activity - Gross: $22,000,000 / Gross to date: $62,477,000
2. (new) Saw VI - Gross: $14,800,000
3. (1) Where the Wild Things Are - Gross: $14,420,000 / Gross to date: $53,960,000
4. (2) Law Abiding Citizen - Gross: $12,713,000 / Gross to date: $40,317,815
5. (4) Couples Retreat - Gross: $11,097,140 / Gross to date: $78,213,340
6. (new) Astro Boy - Gross: $7,017,000
7. (5) The Stepfather - Gross: $6,500,000 / Gross to date: $20,352,000
8. (new) Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant - Gross: $6,347,970
9. (6) Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs - Gross: $5,600,000 / Gross to date: $115,204,000
10. (7) Zombieland - Gross: $4,300,000 / Gross to date: $67,300,000

Worth mentioning: Four weeks ago, Paranormal Activity opened on 12 screens with only midnights screenings. Now it's at the top of the box office, beating the sixth installment of the Saw franchise on its opening weekend. The first ever "You Demand It" marketing campaign has proven successful.