It was a close win for Paranormal Activity 4 around the world, beating former leader Taken 2 with less than $1 million between them. The rest of the top 5 is dominated by animations and a disappointing 4th entry in a rather long-running series.
While Paranormal Activity 4 is way behind its predecessors in North America, internationally things are looking much better after a $26.3 million opening. Now in the past Paranormal Activity films have ranged from $85.4 million (1st one) to $103 (3rd one) million internationally, so based on the promising debut of the 4th flick in just 32 territories, it’s safe to say it will at the very least match Paranormal Activity 3 around the world. For now the supernatural horror has $58.3 million worldwide or almost 12 times its $5 million budget.
Down an okay 44% was Taken 2 in 2nd place with $25.3 million, bringing the sequel to a new total of $177.8 million internationally. Worldwide the Liam Neeson actioner has $282.9 million, meaning it will blow past my $300 million prediction sometime this week for what could end up being something closer to $350 million when all will be said and done. Fox really have a winner with this one at the box office, so they’d have to be stupid to pass the chance for another sequel, as long as Liam Neeson returns, obviously.
Hotel Transylvania was up 8% with $15.3 million for $69 million internationally so far. With $188.8 million worldwide already, Sony Animations have something good here so don’t act surprised when they announce Hotel Transylvania 2 for an October 2015 (just my little prediction).
So after 20 weeks in theaters, Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted is still making the rounds, this time opening in the UK (with a great $9.7 million) which pushed the film to 4th place last weekend with $14.6 million. But that’s not all, oh no, Madagascar 3 just passed the $700 million mark worldwide, making it the 10th most successful animation of all time.
Rounding out the top 5 with a disappointing opening is French comedy Asterix & Obelix: God Save Britannia. Now normally $11.4 million is a lot of money for any foreign film, but it’s not for this one. Based on the classic Asterix comics, this is already the 4th live-action film in the series.Back in 1999 Asterix & Obelix Take on Cesar ended up with about $72 million worldwide. Three years later Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra opened with $19.1 million in France alone, finishing somewhere above $110 million worldwide. In 2008 Asterix at the Olympic Games debuted with a phenomenal $23.4 million in France. Overall the film grossed $131.8 million worldwide. So you can see now how a $9.3 million opening in France from Asterix & Obelix: God Save Britannia is very disappointing.
