Box office: 'Paranormal Activity 2' has the best horror opening ever

"Paranormal Activity 2" snagged the biggest box-office opening ever for a horror film this weekend. Not bad for a film that only cost a reported $3 million to make.

The followup to last year's out-of-nowhere hit grossed $41.5 million this weekend, according to studio estimates. That makes it the top horror-movie opening of all time, passing last year's remake of "Friday the 13th," which made $40.5 million in its first weekend.

"Paranormal 2" slowed down some after its $20 million opening day, which included a large number of Thursday midnight screenings. But it still made almost double the $21.1 million the first "Paranormal Activity" grossed in its first weekend of wide release last year.

Last week's winner, "Jackass 3-D," dropped to second place while earning an estimated $21.6 million, a drop of 57 percent from last weekend's performance. "Red" came in third with $15 million, dropping off only 31 percent from its opening. "Hereafter" pulled in just over $12 million in its first weekend of wide release, while "The Social Network" hung in the top five with $7.3 million.

The weekend's 12 highest-grossing movies are:

1. "Paranormal Activity 2," $41.5 million
2. "Jackass 3-D," $21.6 million
3. "Red," $15 million
4. "Hereafter," $12 million
5. "The Social Network," $7.3 million
6. "Secretariat," $6.9 million
7. "Life as We Know It," $6.15 million
8. "Legend of the Guardians," $3.2 million
9. "The Town," $2.7 million
10. "Easy A," $1.75 million
11. "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps," $1.2 million
12. "My Soul to Take," $1.1 million

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Photo credit: Paramount