Weekend Receipts: Saw 3D Chops Up The Competition
The last torture train has pulled up to Sadism Station, as the final entry in the Saw series debuted at a soft number one, bumping last week's scary sensation, Paranormal Activity 2 down to the silver medal podium. And proving that America LOVES creepy old things at Halloween, Red is still doing respectable business, coming in at number three. Your weekend receipts are here.
1. Saw 3D
Gross: $22,500,000 (new)
Screens: 2,808 (PSA: $8,013)
Weeks: 1
Consider that this opening gross, while respectable, is dwarfed by Paranormal Activity 2's opening numbers from last week, it's probably for the best that this series has been put out to pasture. Then again, how many different so-called FINAL installments did we have to deal with for Freddy and Jason? See your reboot in 2013, Jigsaw!
2. Paranormal Activity 2
Gross: $16,500,000 ($65,658,000)
Screens: 3,239 (PSA: $5,094)
Weeks: 2 (change: -59.4%)
There was a great scene from this week's Halloween episode of Community where they played with the horror movie trope of a yowling cat that dashes in front of you as a cheap scare. Paranormal Activity 2 reminds me of nothing so much as an hour and a half of yowling cats being lobbed at you from off-screen.
3. Red
Gross: $10,811,000 ($58,905,000)
Screens: 3,349 (PSA: $3,228)
Weeks: 3 (change: -28.1%)
I'm running out of ways to call Bruce Willis old, so I'll just congratulate him on tapping into the "Old People Kicking Ass" zeitgeist that Stallone rode all the way to the bank this summer in The Expendables. Abe Vigoda, there's an action franchise with your name all over it, somewhere!
4. Jackass 3D
Gross: $8,425,000 ($101,578,000)
Screens: 3,139 (PSA: $2,684)
Weeks: 3 (change: -60.5%)
And speaking of geezers in action, Jackass 3D appears to be running out of steam quickly, though they've already made enough money not to care.
5. Hereafter
Gross: $6,320,000 ($22,161,000)
Screens: 2,424 (PSA: $2,607)
Weeks: 3 (change: -47.4%)
Man, this thing just isn't catching on at all. Hurry, Matt Damon! It might not be too late to try to worm your way into the next Bourne flick!
[Numbers via Box Office Mojo]
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Comments
When 'Saw' hit our screens in 2004, it left us all gasping. It was subtle, yet horrific, and a complete mystery with an amazing twist. But now there's been 7 'Saw' films, each one more terrible than the last. Though I had everlasting faith in the series, I've seen every single one, and I was hoping 'Saw 3D' would restore my love for the series. 'Saw VI' was a lot better than it's previous films, which implied that the final instalment would be a satisfactory end to the series.
I was wrong.
This complete and utter drivel actually angered me. The plot made no sense. I was eagerly anticipating the return of Dr. Lawrence Gordon, but they completely ruined his character! They waited until the final film before casually announcing 'Oh, by the way, Lawrence has been an accomplice of Jigsaw's all along.' This made no sense. Sure, Jigsaw nursed Gordon back to health, but there was no reason for Lawrence to work with him! In the first three 'Saw' films, we saw Amanda Young become an apprentice of Jigsaw. This was a shocking twist to the series, and plausible, because she was a drug addict and he'd 'helped her'. Lawrence, however, was a family man. Jigsaw ruined his life, which he'd previously said had been 'in perfect order'.
It seems 'Saw' lacked imagination after the first three. Why did they deem it necessary to make ANOTHER victim an accomplice of Jigsaw? It is beyond me.
As for the '3D' aspect, that wasn't necessary either. Most of the traps looked fake, and the 3D was a little over the top. 'Saw' just jumped on the bandwagon in an attempt to get more money.
After this ludicrous end to the series, I only consider the first 'Saw' to be worth watching.
You might want to check your computer, since there seems to be an error. When you typed "Spoiler Alert" at the start of your comment, it didn't show up with the rest of your post.