Well, let's safely declare that this one's hardly a surprise. The Paranormal Activity films have always been very, very cheap to make, and this past weekend, Paranormal Activity 4 shot to the top of the US box office with an opening weekend of $30.2m.
That number means two things. Firstly, that it's a no-brainer for Paramount to press ahead with a fifth film. Paranormal Activity 5 is now being scheduled for next October. A Latino spin-off movie is also pressing ahead.
Secondly, though, there are real signs that the franchise has slowed in popularity. The opening weekend gross of Paranormal Activity 4 is well down on that for Paranormal Activity 3 ($52.6m) and Paranormal Activity 2 ($40.7m). Given that the fourth film, despite the occasional strong moment, feels like that the box of tricks is nearly empty, that might not be too much of a surprise. However, it does leave it on an interesting moment. We're not spoiling it, but if that ending is pursued, and there's a willingness to shake up the style of the movies a little, there may yet be a way to inject life into the franchise.
As it stands, it's hard not to see Paranormal Activity 5 witnessing declining returns once again, and perhaps bringing the series to a close. But then, they are remarkably economical to make - Paranormal Activity 4 reportedly cost just $5m to make, before marketing costs...
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