Paranormal Activity 2 has best all-time opening day for a Horror movie

[charlie and algernon]

Friday Report: 'Paranormal Activity 2' Hits Supernatural High

On Friday, Paranormal Activity 2 delivered the highest-grossing opening day for a supernatural horror movie on record, while the other new supernaturally-themed entry, Hereafter, had a relatively quieter launch. Overall business was up from the same Friday last year, when the first Paranormal Activity led.

Paranormal Activity 2 drew an estimated $20.1 million on approximately 4,500 screens at 3,216 locations, topping The Ring Two's $14.8 million for supernatural supremacy in terms of first day gross. Its Friday gross included a $6.3 million midnight debut at around 1,800 locations, which not only broke Jackass 3-D's October midnight record ($2.5 million) but also the R-rated midnight record, formerly held by Watchmen ($4.55 million).

The horror sequel displayed better staying power than the Blair Witch movies: in a single day, its retention percentage of its predecessor's gross matched Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2's total retention of The Blair Witch Project. The first Paranormal Activity opened nearly 13 months ago but had a slow roll-out into nationwide release. It peaked at 2,712 locations and its biggest single day was $8.6 million, leading up to a $107.9 million final tally.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=2957&p=.htm

[mreilly]

1. I'm going momentarily!

Paranormal Activity was hands-down the most disturbing, frightening, soul-chewing movie I've ever seen, as a big horror fan who saw "Friday the 13th" when he was 10 or 11. Therefore I can't wait to see the sequel... and I'm leaving in a few minutes to go check it out. Looking forward to several nights of fucked-up lack-of-sleep, night terrors and general "What the fuck was that?" reactions when the wind blows outside....

Viva El Paranormal Activite!

[charlie and algernon]

7. So did you see it? How'd you like it?

[EOTE]

10. The first one caused me to lose sleep as well.

That night, I was up until 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning seething over the $13 I wasted on that completely scareless, microbudget POS.

[Kaleva]

2. Is the box office take based on a certain years dollar?

For example, "Gone With The Wind" remains the #1 highest grossing movie when box office take is adjusted for inflation.

[charlie and algernon]

4. that chart is unadjusted for inflation

Boxofficemojo does keep a chart going that adjusts for inflation, but the daily reports are unadjusted.

[AmandaMae]

3. Can't wait to see it. The first one terrified me more than

any other horror movie I've seen before.

[charlie and algernon]

5. this one will scare you even more

unlike the first one, the daylight scenes are just as nerve-wracking as the night time scenes. I saw it yesterday and every dream I had last night involved things that went bump in the night.

[Skittles]

6. thanks for the recommendation!

I liked the first one and am normally not too hot on sequels but I trust you! :D

[JCMach1]

8. The original was lame lame lame

[EOTE]

9. I wholeheartedly agree.

I had never been so pissed after seeing a movie as when I went to see Paranormal Activity. I love low budget horror, I love movies with a slow burn, taking their time to scare the pants off of me. I wasn't scared one single, damned time when watching that miserable piece of garbage. It pissed me off so much that I felt compelled to write a lounge post about it. How that movie managed to fool so many people so incredibly well is far beyond me. If people were really so scared of clanging pots and pans, they probably shouldn't leave the house. There are far scarier things once you step out of your front door.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x9533436

[JCMach1]

11. Would have worked better as a comedy... and more enjoyable...

Just watched it the other day... and was seriously unimpressed... sigh.

Honestly, Blair Witch was better, despite being hella irritating.

[EOTE]

12. I thought Blair Witch was infinitely better.

Granted, Blair Witch was only OK, but at least it had a couple of decent scares. I spent the first half of Paranormal Activity on the edge of my seat because I was so certain the scares were about to come. The scares never came. And the two protagonists were about as dull and uninteresting as you can get. I honestly wonder about the people who consider this movie to be one of the scariest of all time.

[charlie and algernon]

13. PA 2 is better

They dive into the scares pretty quickly and keep the tension twisted pretty tight throughout. As I said in a post above, there are no more slow daytime scenes breaking up the scares at night. As much happens during the day as happens during the night, so there's little slow points.

[mvd]

14. Loved the original. Will watch PA2, but will lower..

my expectations since it's a sequel. Plus, I'm more of a music than movie person - pickier about movies.

[charlie and algernon]

15. it's not quite a sequel

It takes place before, during, and after the events of the first one.