Dethroning the Saw franchise
The question of whether the “Saw” franchise could hold up for a sixth year running against stiff competition from the horror phenom that is Oren Peli’s Paranormal Activity have been answered by Friday box office estimates that have Paranormal Activity ahead of Saw VI by $7.5 million to $7 million for the day.
As we reported over a week ago, Paramount’s somewhat last-minute decision to expand Paranormal Activity slowly, doubling its theater count to 1,945 sites across the nation yesterday, could have posed the first significant problem for the lucrative “Saw” franchise, but it wasn’t expected by many that Paranormal Activity could actually win the weekend and become the #1 movie in the country after five weeks in theaters.
Based on previous box office history, we can extrapolate that Paranormal Activity will end up with $21 to 23 million for the weekend, while Saw VI should follow previous installments by being frontloaded to Friday, leaving it with roughly $15 to 16 million for the weekend.
It’s somewhat ironic since the “Saw” franchise became known as one of the most profitable horror franchises, as each installment was produced for less than $15 million but would then open to over $30 million. Paranormal Activity was also produced cheaply and independently before being given a big marketing and distribution by Paramount Pictures.
Although Saw VI might struggle to get to $40 million, it’s likely to still be profitable for Lionsgate. The new question is whether the already-announced Saw VII, which was announced as being produced in 3D– first reported by Shock back in July–will stick to that plan, especially considering the additional cost necessary to produce a 3D movie.
Stay tuned to ShockTillYouDrop for more developments on this fascinating turn of events as a new horror phenomenon continues to transcend all expectations and the “Saw” franchise might have finally met its match.
Source: ShockTillYouDrop.com
