Paranormal Activity scares up $54 million worth of moviegoers

The summer of blockbuster sequels is finally ending and Paranormal Activity is the perfect way to cap it all off. With just a $5 million budget, the horror movie is estimated to rake in over $54 million with an average of $16,000 of tickets per theater — blowing out studio estimates by over $10 million.

Like Pirates and other sequels of the summer, Paranormal appears to be beating its predecessors, which garnered a tad over $40 million in its first weekend exactly one year ago. The first installment of the horror flick brought in an unexpected $100+ million bounty and this third one appears to be well on its way to beating it.

Perhaps Paranormal’s luck was helped by the lackluster choices at the theaters. Reel Steel and Footloose followed its third and second week with lower totals, aggregating to $67 million and $30 million total gross. Its best new competitor was an update on The Three Musketeers, which is estimated to rake in a mere $8.8 million. Johnny English Reborn comes in eighth with its first weekend total of just $3.8 million.

The top movies in this weekend’s box office include:

1. Paranormal Activity 3 $54,020,000
2. Real Steel $11,319,000
3. Footloose (2011) $10,850,000
4. The Three Musketeers (2011) $8,800,000
5. The Ides of March $4,900,000
6. Dolphin Tale $4,200,000
7. Moneyball $4,050,000
8. Johnny English Reborn $3,800,000
9. The Thing (2011) $3,115,000
10. 50/50 $2,800,000
11. Courageous $2,500,000
12. The Lion King (in 3D) $1,242,000