"Paranormal Activity" getting not-so-normal rollout

Paramount Pictures appears committed to an abnormally aggressive expansion of its suddenly hot horror thriller "Paranormal Activity", Reuters reported

Betting heavily on fan fervor for the microbudgeted ghost story, the studio is expected to send "Paranormal Activity" into a box-office buzz saw on October 23. That's when Lionsgate will release its horror sequel "Saw VI" and Paramount will broaden "Paranormal Activity" to 2,000 screens.

Promoted largely via viral marketing, "Paranormal Activity" posted an otherworldly $7.9 million from 160 playdates last weekend. The inexpensive Slamdance festival acquisition totes a $9.1 million box-office total to date.

Paramount will expand the film to roughly 800 engagements on Friday and appears on track for the teen millions this weekend. But the distributor hopes to get "Paranormal Activity" more than 2,000 runs this month, and the early word has Paramount feverishly seeking exhibitor commitments for the weekend of October 23.

The situation has some recalling the out-of-nowhere theatrical surge of another Little Horror Pic That Could -- 1999's "The Blair Witch Project."

Whether Paramount can mimic Artisan Entertainment's $140 million-plus domestic success with "Blair Witch" remains to be seen. But as with that film, there's a wide array of opinion on the ideal distribution strategy for "Paranormal Activity."

Paramount is playing its cards close to the vest. The studio appears to be avoiding an immediate expansion into wide release, while committing to as wide an expansion as possible in two weeks.

An immediate wide release would avoid head-to-head competition with the "Saw" sequel, whose prerelease tracking suggests the Lionsgate movie will bow as big as its franchise predecessors.

But even the coming weekend features an unfortunate audience overlap with Sony Screen Gems' horror thriller "The Stepfather," though "Paranormal Activity" carries an R rating and "Stepfather" is rated PG-13.

The weekend will likely be topped by Warner Bros.' PG-rated fantasy "Where the Wild Things Are." Overture will unspool Jamie Foxx-starring thriller "Law Abiding Citizen" in wide release.

"Everybody has an opinion on what they should be doing," a distribution executive at a rival studio said Tuesday of the possible scenarios for "Paranormal Activity." "But there's no question that it's a nice problem to have for Paramount."