The series that began the modern torture-horror genre staged a small comeback.
With no other new competition on Halloween weekend, “Saw 3D” opened to $24.2 million, according to an estimate from distributor Lionsgate. It easily beat “Paranormal Activity 2,” which on its second weekend in theaters dropped a hefty 59% to $16.5 million.
Last year, the first “Paranormal Activity” beat “Saw VI” in an embarrassing defeat for Lionsgate.
This year’s entry, advertised as the finale, did significantly better than “Saw VI,” which opened to a weak $14.1 million. However, it didn’t bring the series back to its former heights. “Saw II” through “Saw V,” released from 2005 to 2008, all took in between $30 million and $34 million on their debut weekends. And those movies didn’t have the benefit of 3-D ticket price surcharges, which provided a sizable advantage to this year’s installment. 92% of its ticket sales came from the 75% of theaters showing it in 3-D.