PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 and TAI CHI HERO take top spots

29 Oct 2012

SINGAPORE - PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 scores as it claims the no.1 spot. TAI CHI HERO (太极 2), the follow-up to TAI CHI ZERO (太极) settles for the runner-up position.

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 opens with US$311,914 - the second best ever for the franchise. Only the original film opened bigger (US$315,115), but only marginally and with sneak previews added. The attraction for the Paranormal brand has been holding steady over the years, which is quite notable. The final grosses for the first films were US$583,875, US$576,707 and US$660,429 respectively. PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 looks likely to finish with higher, if not similar numbers.

TAI CHI HERO's opening bests the opening of the last film, TAI CHI ZERO which opened just 3 weeks ago. HERO starts with US$272,316 and a screen average of US$10,893 - both higher than ZERO's US$194,142 and US$6,471 respectively. This feat is remarkable as HERO opened on fewer screens than ZERO - 25 vs. ZERO's 30.

HERO also scores the 2nd biggest debut for a Mandarin language film this year, behind WE NOT NAUGHTY (孩子不坏), which started with US$332,544. But HERO's gross does not include sneak previews. It is also the first Mandarin film to be released on an IMAX screen.

BAIT - the 12th domestic release of the year (a co-production with Australia) swims in at no. 5. The film's top market so far has been China (US$22.88m), with encouraging results from Russia (US$2,453,256), Italy (US$1,946,386) and Malaysia (US$1,310,502). But it has also performed poorly in other territories. It grossed US$806,005 in its other home country Australia. In Singapore, it starts with US$108,907 on 23 screens for a US$4,735 screen average. The film is promoted with a 2D prices for 3D screenings at GV cinemas - a first for 3D releases domestically.

Debuting at no. 7 is FINDING NEMO 3D, which grosses US$94,597 from 23 screens.

Debuts outside the Top 10 include the Clint Eastwood baseball drama, THE TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE (US$43,363/10 screens), Hong Kong romance comedy LOVE IS... PYAJAMAS (男人如衣服) (US$12,802/2 screens) and the French romance IT BEGINS WITH THE END (US$7,165/2 screens).

Meanwhile, THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER improves on its box office performance for a third week in a row. Only one other film in 2012, THE LADY has witnessed a week to week growth its first 3 weekends. This sleeper hit has garnered US$340,242 to date.  

In its fourth week, TAKEN 2 has smashed past the US$3m barrier and is now the 8th highest grosser of 2012 with US$3,113,632.

With US$1,440,063 collected over the weekend, the box office top ten sees a 10.36% improvement over the same period a year ago, when IN TIME was the top film. For the past 9 weekends, the box office paled in comparison to the same period a year ago.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/intl/singapore/?yr=2012&wk=43&p=.htm