With its rapid climb each week since its wide release and its beating SAW VI in that movie's opening week, it seemed inevitable to me:  PARANORMAL ACTIVITY has broken the $100 million mark this week.  Perched at $97M last week, even if it had all but faded this week it was going to cross the golden mark.  Consider the $11 thousand budget, and the fact that is has made roughly 9,090 times that since it went to wide release.  Also consider that this week's biggest release, 2012, cost $250 M to make.  To make the same kind of return...  I would need a scientific calculator to figure that, one that had lots of placeholders. 

What does this mean for the movie industry?  Probably not much.  Studios will surely continue to pour money into big budget flicks with lots of action and little brains.   They may be a little more likely to try to sweep up no-budget horror flicks and promote them in the hopes to catch some magic and reap a great profit;  but remember, the last time that worked was BLAIR WITCH, and that was a decade ago.

I didn't like PARANORMAL ACTIVITY, and though it's made so much money, I know many people who felt the same way.  Hype won the day with this flick, but I'm pretty sure this is a one-trick pony, and a decade from now, many will wonder just what the big deal was... just as some are doing now about BLAIR WITCH.

--Phil Fasso