'Paranormal Activity 3' Seizes Box-Office Record

Moviegoers were feeling the Halloween "spirit" over the weekend. "Paranormal Activity 3" broke the box-office record for the biggest fall opening with an estimated $54 million debut, passing "Jackass 3D" to become the highest-grossing September/October opening ever. Meanwhile, "The Three Musketeers," "Johnny English Reborn" and "The Mighty Macs" all underperformed. Both "Real Steel" and the remake of "Footloose" held strong over the weekend. Hugh Jackman's robot action adventure was #2 with $11.3 million for a $67.2 million total, with "Footloose" right behind at #3 with $10.9 million for a $30.9 million total. Roughly 55 percent of "The Three Musketeers" $8.8 million debut, which landed the film at #4 at the box office, can be attributed to its more expensive 3-D screening ticket prices. Co-star Milla Jovovich made entertainment news headlines with a flurry of tweets questioning the promotion effort behind the flick on the part of distributor Summit Entertainment, which also handles the "Twilight" franchise. "I think 'summit' have swept '3 Musketeers', a grt family adventure film, under the rug in the US. Shame on them," the actress declared in one of several tweets unleashed on Friday. The film, directed by Jovovich's husband, Paul W.S. Anderson, was dismissed by most film critics. "An editorial mess, an atonal wreck, and a huge waste of cash from inception to release," Scott Weinberg at Twitch wrote. "The Ides of March" rounded out the top five with $4.9 million. The George Clooney-directed political feature has earned $29.2 million to date. While the comedy "Johnny English Reborn" has done respectable business internationally, it made just $3.8 million during its first weekend in North American theaters. "The Mighty Macs" made just over $1 million, although it played in less than a third of the locations as "Paranormal Activity 3." Elizabeth Olsen's "Martha Marcy May Marlene" got off to a strong start at just four locations in New York and Los Angeles, taking in a respectable per-theater average of $34,385. Elizabeth is the sister of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. Next weekend's new releases include Johnny Depp's "The Rum Diary," "Shrek" spin-off "Puss in Boots," Justin Timberlake's "In Time" and director Roland Emmerich's "Anonymous." Check out everything we've got on "Paranormal Activity 3" and "Footloose." For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com. Katie Featherston and Sprague Grayden in "Paranormal Activity 3" Photo: Paramount Pictures