Blood bath at weekend box office (HWD)

By Paul Dergarabedian & Wiretap Staff

Lionsgate's "Saw 3D," the seventh installment of the wildly successful horror franchise, is set to make its final chapter a memorable one at the box office this weekend. For seven straight years the character of Jigsaw has made audiences squirm in their seats and happily plunk down their hard-earned cash for the privilege. Midnight Thursday showings and the addition of the 3D component will serve to supercharge this latest "Saw" which will be in 2,100 3D locations out of a total of 2,808 theaters.

With a franchise average opening weekend of $26.6 million, this "Saw" could find itself right in the sweet spot with a low-$20 million gross or even higher given the much stronger-than-expected debuts of some recent hits.

After a truly scary $40.7 million debut last weekend, Paramount's "Paranormal Activity 2" is positioned for a solid second weekend. Mid-week grosses in the $2 million range show that interest in the film remains strong leading up to the genre-friendly Halloween weekend. Add to that the IMAX experience and a gross in the $18 to $19 million range seems within reach and a $70 million total by the end of Sunday is likely.

Though some really scary movies will top the chart, the true horror will happen further down the list as Summit's "Red," Paramount's "Jackass 3D" and Warner Bros.' "Hereafter" will find themselves in a bloodbath for the third, fourth and fifth positions and grosses likely ranging from $8 to $11 million.

"Red" has shown remarkable staying power and after twelve days in release is still grossing over $1 million in mid-week revenue. With another drop in the 30% range the Bruce Willis ensemble action movie will be in the thick of the box office fight with around $10 million in its third weekend of release.

"Jackass 3D" will amazingly pass the $100 million mark by the end of the weekend and even with an expected 55%-plus third weekend drop, Johnny Knoxville and his buddies will see their antics draw a crowd-pleasing gross of $8 to $9 million. Great marketing, huge appeal to older teen and college audiences and the fact that this is a comedy that actually delivers laughs, have made this "Jackass" the highest grossing film of the Fall season.

"Hereafter" earned just over $1 million on Tuesday and that bodes well for a strong third weekend for the Clint Eastwood drama of $8 to $9 million. Typically the director creates thoughtful films that attract older viewers who head out to the theatre over time and thus make his movies marathon performers rather than sprinters. Matt Damon's name on the marquee does not hurt either and therefore long-term prospects are good for the film.