Heading into the weekend it appeared as though it would be a close race between Paramount’s Paranormal Activity and Lionsgate’s Saw VI, but when everything was said and done Paranormal Activity easily won the weekend race with $21.10 million. The low-budget horror film was up 8 percent from last weekend thanks to strong word of mouth, the approaching Halloween holiday and a large-scale expansion into an additional 1,182 locations on Friday. Paranormal Activity has grossed $61.58 million in 31 days (with its first two weeks consisting only of midnight screenings in platform release). That places the film 37 percent behind the pace of 1999’s The Blair Witch Project without taking ticket price inflation to account (though it should also be noted that The Blair Witch Project expanded both quicker and wider than Paranormal Activity has). Paranormal Activity should continue to perform very well this week in the days leading up to Halloween.

Saw VI opened in second place with a very lackluster $14.12 million. That marked a steep 53 percent fall from the $30.05 million debut of last October’s Saw V and is especially discouraging given how front-loaded the franchise has been towards opening weekend in the past. Saw VI was clearly hurt by the performance of Paranormal Activity, though the intensity of the film’s fall-off from the debut of Saw V and the fact that Paranormal Activity performed in line with expectations this weekend strongly suggests that a significant portion of the Saw fanbase has simply grown tired of all the sequels. Saw VI also likely took a hit from the stronger than expected performances of both Law Abiding Citizen and Zombieland throughout the month of October. Saw VI does carry a production budget of just $11 million and could see a better second weekend percentage hold than previous Saw sequels given the smaller debut and Halloween falling next Saturday.

Last weekend’s top film, Warner’s Where the Wild Things Are, was down two spots and a sharp 57 percent to finish in third with $14.02 million. Despite the slide, Where the Wild Things Are trailed Saw VI by just $99,038 for the weekend. After a solid start last weekend, the big-screen adaptation of the popular children’s book has fallen off rather quickly over the past week. The Spike Jonze directed film has suffered from the opening weekend rush out of the book’s fanbase, from mixed word of mouth and the ongoing discussion as to whether or not the film is too scary for younger children. Where the Wild Things Are has grossed $53.56 million through ten days, placing it 10 percent behind the pace of 2000’s A.I. Artificial Intelligence without adjusting for inflation.

Holding up much better was Overture’s Law Abiding Citizen. The action-thriller starring Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler was down a very respectable 41 percent from last weekend. Law Abiding Citizen finished in fourth with $12.40 million, placing its second weekend gross within shouting distance of the opening weekend gross of Saw VI. Although it has taken a back seat in the headlines to Paranormal Activity, Where the Wild Things Are and even Saw VI, Law Abiding Citizen has grossed a very solid $40.01 million in its first ten days of release. That means that Law Abiding Citizen will pass the $40.08 million gross of last year’s Righteous Kill today, which will make it the highest grossing film to date for Overture.

The weekend’s other three major releases all got off to disappointing starts. Summit’s Astro Boy, which was the weekend’s most expensive new release with a production budget of $65 million, opened in sixth with $6.70 million. Right on its heels was Universal’s Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant, which opened in seventh with $6.29 million. While The Vampire’s Assistant also fell short of expectations, its expectations were a bit lower than those for Astro Boy. Finally, Fox Searchlight’s Amelia opened towards the lower end of expectations with an eleventh place start of $3.90 million. The Amelia Earhart biopic starring Hilary Swank and Richard Gere did earn a solid per-location average of $4,761, but has also received poorer than expected reviews from critics.

BOXOFFICE.com's Weekly Anticipation Index with early predictions can be read here.