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A slow-roll platform release is a high-risk strategy, but Paramount has really hit on something with Paranormal Activity](http://www.cinematical.com/2009/09/25/paranormal-activity-review/). The movie expanded from 30 to 160 screens this weekend, accompanied by good reviews and hype that Paramount marketers almost killed themselves building on the internet, and was greeted with a $44,000 per-screen average, amounting to a fairly eye-popping $7 million weekend. It wouldn’t have worked if the movie weren’t pretty good, and the momentum is sure to fade as the movie expands further, but still: kudos all around. It would have been easy to dump this little gem into a few theaters and let it die (see: The Midnight Meat Train](The Midnight Meat Train (2008) - Movie | Moviefone).)
The weekend’s only new wide release, Couples Retreat](http://www.cinematical.com/2009/10/09/couples-retreat-review/), capitalized on its cast and bright-colored marketing to the tune of $35 million – a strong October bow, and par for the course for Vince Vaughn, who can open a rom-com like nobody’s business. Chris Rock’s documentary Good Hair](http://www.cinematical.com/2009/10/09/good-hair-review/) opened at 186 screens and lurks down at number 14 with just over a million bucks. I must admit it’s hard to come up with a good analogy to a doc about black women’s hair directed by a superstar comedian, box-office-wise. Maybe Dave Chappelle’s Block Party](Dave Chappelle's Block Party (2006) - Movie | Moviefone)? ($6.2 million on 1200 screens, with a similar per-screen average.)
The holdovers did respectably, with the possible exception of The Invention of Lying](http://www.cinematical.com/2009/10/03/review-the-invention-of-lying/). Ricky Gervais’s subversive comedy took a 52% hit, though it will still end up beating Gervais’s last stateside star vehicle, Ghost Town](Ghost Town (2008) - Movie | Moviefone). Zombieland](http://www.cinematical.com/2009/10/02/zombieland-review/), this fall’s little horror comedy that could, held up quite well in second place, approaching $50 million after two weeks. And I wonder if Disney will hold true to its promise to pull the 3-D *Toy Story *double feature out of theaters after this week; the movies are still doing well, dropping less than 40% and pulling in $7.7 million in their second re-release weekend.
The full top 10 after the jump.
Continue reading Weekend Box Office: ‘Paranormal Activity’ Rides Wave of Buzz