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Popularity wasn’t reserved for just North America, either. Its international total for this weekend is projected to be $26 million, meaning that it has earned a whopping total of $80 million after only three days. And oh, by the way, the newest Parnormal Activity film has a budget of only $5 million. (Under)stating the obvious, Paranormal Activity films are money.

Second place – by a lot – goes to two-time defending champion Real Steel. The Hugh Jackman robot-fighting movie fell 31% to $11.3 million. The pricey $110 million production has a grand total of $67.2 million domestically, with an overall worldwide box office total of $150 million. Even though it was a costly proposition, Jackman’s popularity overseas and respectable word-of-mouth has helped it to be a movie that Disney/DreamWorks can call a slight win over the long term.

The mystique of Kenny Loggins continues to cast a long shadow at the box office, as Footloose has a solid hold in its second weekend to finish in third place. Paramount’s other film in the top three this week fell only 30% from $15.6 million to $10.9 million this weekend, giving it a running total of $30.9 million domestically. Another example of frugality from Paramount, Footloose cost $24 million to produce, thanks primarily to its cheap cast and savvy direction by Craig Brewer. It is also showing some modest international appeal, guaranteeing its profitability. Paramount Pictures is having a good October.

Summit Entertainment’s The Three Musketeers, their latest attempt to show they’re more than vampires and werewolves, finishes in fourth place as it opens with $8.8 million. This is a good news/bad news situation, so we’ll be polite and start with the good news first. Lead actress Milla Jovovich and her husband Paul W.S. Anderson are quite popular abroad thanks to their Resident Evil films. The Three Musketeers is the rare film that was released into international venues well ahead of its North American theatrical debut. It has already accumulated $64 million overseas, which is respectable for a $90 million production. The bad news is that Summit won’t see any of that money since they did not have international distribution rights. What Summit has is a movie that finished in fourth place with $8.8 million with a per location average of $2,917. You don’t need 3D glasses to see that’s not a good number. Given the absolutely massive advertising campaign for this title, it’s fair to say that North America said thanks but no thanks to 3D men with silly hairstyles.

Fifth, sixth and seventh place go to the $4 million team of The Ides of March, Dolphin Tale and Moneyball. George Clooney’s latest directorial effort fell a modest 31% to $4.9 million, giving it a running total of $29.2 million. BOP continues to be equal parts horrified and impressed by his refusal to do commercial projects. Dolphin Tale, which reminds us of that Simpsons episode where Lisa accidentally leads humanity to enslavement, dropped 33% to $4.2 million. Its running tally of $64.4 million is a best case scenario result for this clear winner. Moneyball continues to hold well with $4.1 million, a 26% decline from last week. Perhaps the only way to make the game of baseball slower is to add math and stats to it, so making a movie that earned $63.7 million is a solid accomplishment in the realm of box office sabremetrics.

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