Michael Jackson's ‘This Is It’ was the top film in ticket sales in US and Canadian cinema last weekend, bringing in $21.3 million for distributor Sony.
Last week's number 1 film, 'Paranormal Activity' from Paramount Pictures, fell to second place with $16.5 million, researcher Hollywood.com Box-Office said last yesterday in an e- mailed statement.
Michael Jackson's 'This Is It' follows the final days of the singer's life, and is Sony's seventh first-place debut this year.
The movie, directed by Kenny Ortega, includes interviews, rehearsal and backstage footage of Jackson preparing for his planned 50 concerts in London's O2 Arena before his death in June. The film opened October 28th with $20.1 million in sales worldwide and was scheduled for a limited two-week theatrical run.
'Paranormal Activity,' the low-budget horror film, has brought in $84.8 million since its release.
The movie, which has benefited from a Web-based marketing campaign, spent the month of October working its way up the weekly movie ranking, eventually finishing at number one last weekend after expanding to 1,945 theaters from 760 the prior period.
'Paranormal Activity' tells the story of a couple whose suburban home is haunted by a demonic presence. 'Law Abiding Citizen,' distributed by Overture Films, came in third with $7.3 million.
The movie stars Gerard Butler as a man who takes revenge on his family's killers, as well as the criminal justice system.
Bloomberg