Hollywood Movie Roundup: ‘Saw 3D’ kills ‘Paranormal 2′
HollywoodNews.com: “Saw 3D,” the final chapter in the serial killer Jigsaw franchise, will not leave quietly. The Lionsgate horror film rang up $10.7 million Friday, killing off last weekend’s fright champ “Paranormal Activity 2” at the knees for the top box office sport.
To date that Paramount sequel has accumulated $55 million and screamed $5.8 million in second place, off a bloody 71% from a week ago.
While most 3D films have been getting blasted lately by cinema purists for converting from 2D to 3D, “Saw” filmmakers played it smart by shooting specifically in the cinema format.
Last year at this time “Saw VI” was caught in the crosshairs of “Paranormal Activity” and fizzled at the domestic box office with a $14.1 million opening. Analysts project that “Saw 3D” could bring in as much as $25 million. $1.7 million was generated in Thursday midnight showings.
“Saw 3D” is the only wide release bowing over Halloween weekend. Few critics have watched the film and of the 35 who have seen it, 32 have given it a thumbs down at Rotten Tomatoes. However, horror films are critic-proof. Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gets “Saw 3D” praising “(it’s) sicko-exploitative, viscera-spewing trash, but at least it has a lean and mean pace and focus, and it isn’t clotted with backstory.”
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Photo credit: Lionsgate, Paramount
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