'Paranormal Activity 2' scares up big bucks Friday

"Paranormal Activity 2" scored big in its opening day Friday (Oct. 22), drawing almost $20 million worth of fright-seeking fans.

The sequel/prequel to last year's ultra-low-budget hit took in an estimated $19.7 million at the box office Friday, beating estimates and putting it on pace to collect close to $50 million for the weekend. (Friday's take includes $6.3 million in midnight screenings Thursday.)

The first "Paranormal Activity" opened in limited release last year before going wide a few weeks later. It ended up making $108 million in the United States; the sequel could be almost halfway to that total by the end of the weekend.

"Paranormal 2" is on its way to giving Paramount its second straight big weekend at the box office, following "Jackass 3-D's" $50 million-plus take last week. "Jackass" fell off by a large amount Friday but still finished second with an estimated $7.7 million.

The rest of Friday's top five: "Red" ($4.5 million), which dropped off only 38 percent from its opening last week; Clint Eastwood's "Hereafter" ($4.1 million); and "The Social Network" ($2.3 million).

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Photo credit: Paramount