The "Paranormal Activity" franchise is back with a spin-off titled "Paranormal Activity: Marked Ones"
"Paranormal Activity: Marked Ones", will likely leverage the strong horror movie franchise to a first place debut ahead of a handful of 2013 holdovers.
"Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones" is the fifth installment in the Paranormal Activity franchise, which got started after the small budget original became a word-of-mouth sensation in 2009. Earning $107.9 million, it remains the highest-grossing entry in the franchise, though Paranormal Activity 2 with $84.8 million and Paranormal Activity 3 with $104 million were also successful. However, by the time Paranormal Activity 4 hit theaters in October 2012, franchise fatigue was starting to set in, and the movie ended its run with just $53.9 million.
"Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones" is a spin-off aimed at Latino audiences, who typically make up a disproportionately high percentage of the audience for supernatural horror movies. Aside from casting Latinos in the leading roles, "The Marked Ones" also differentiates itself from its predecessors by taking place outside of the house environment and on to the streets of Los Angeles. At the same time, it features the same found footage style and creepy imagery that audiences expect from a Paranormal Activity movie.
Even though a "Paranormal Activity" movie has never opened in January before, the month is a good launching pad for horror. On this same weekend last year, "Texas Chainsaw 3D" opened to $21.7 million and more importantly, a year earlier "The Devil Inside" took in $33.7 million. It may be tough to get that high, though it wouldn't be entirely surprising if "The Marked Ones" matches "Paranormal Activity 4"'s $29 million debut.
Here's BoxOfficeMojo.com's Box Office Forecast (Jan. 3-5)
1. Paranormal Activity - $23 million
2. Frozen - $18.2 million (-36%)
3. The Hobbit - $16.2 million (-44%)
4. American Hustle - $13.5 million (-31%)
5. Anchorman 2 - $12.5 million (-38%)
6. Wolf/Wall Street - $11.3 million (-39%)
